The commander of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan warned Kabul on Sunday that the United States will continue its airstrikes in support of Afghan forces if the Taliban persist in their attacks, which have been ongoing since early May. General Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), stated, "The United States has intensified its airstrikes to support Afghan forces in recent days, and we are prepared to maintain this high level of support in the coming days if the Taliban continues its assaults."
Since the beginning of May, the Taliban has launched a sweeping offensive against Afghan forces, managing to capture vast rural areas, taking advantage of the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan, which is set to conclude by the end of August. Afghan forces have been unable to withstand the Taliban and now only control provincial capitals and main hubs.
General McKenzie remarked, "I want to be clear, the Afghan government will face a harsh test in the coming days, and the Taliban is trying to impose the inevitability of their campaign. They are mistaken... the Taliban's victory is not inevitable." As the commander of CENTCOM, which oversees U.S. military operations in twenty countries across the Middle East and Central and South Asia, General McKenzie has been leading military operations in Afghanistan since General Austin Scott Miller completed his mission as commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan on July 12.
With negotiations that began in September in Doha now stalled, the withdrawal of international troops has raised concerns about the Taliban's potential resurgence in power after ruling Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
### Displacement of 22,000 Afghan Families
More than 22,000 Afghan families have fled combat in Kandahar, the Taliban's former stronghold, as announced by officials earlier on Sunday. Authorities have arrested four individuals suspected of being rebels involved in a rocket attack targeting Kabul earlier this week. Dost Mohammad Daryab, head of the refugee affairs department in Kandahar, stated, "The fighting has displaced 22,000 families from Kandahar over the past month." He continued, "They have all fled from troubled areas in the city to safer regions."
On Sunday, fighting continued on the outskirts of Kandahar city. Lalai Dastagiri, the deputy governor of Kandahar province, told AFP that "the neglect faced by some security forces, especially the police, has allowed the Taliban to advance to this extent, and currently, we are trying to organize our security forces."
