'The Gloves Are Off': US Air Force B-52 Shatters Record Against Taliban Facilities in Afghanistan
A U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress, America’s longest-serving bomber, set a new record for the most smart bombs dropped on the Taliban in Afghanistan, the U.S. Forces-Afghanistan revealed Tuesday.
Shattering the previous record set in November, the American bomber dropped 24 precision guided munitions during a 96-hour air campaign against Taliban training and narcotics facilities in Afghanistan, Fox News reported.
The conventional rotary configuration on board allows the B-52s to unleash hell on the terrorists.
“The Taliban have nowhere to hide,” Gen. John Nicholson, the unit commander, reportedly said in a statement.
“There will be no safe haven for any terrorist group bent on bringing harm and destruction to this country.”
When an Air Force B-52 dropped 19 smart bombs on Taliban opium and heroin facilities in Helmand Province, Afghanistan in November, Air Force Brig. Gen. Lance Bunch revealed the Trump administration has given the military authority to take the fight to the enemy in new ways.
“The new strategy highlights that this is a new war,” he told reporters at the time.
“The gloves are off. We’ve got now these authorities we need to be able to go and target the Taliban network,” he added.
“That is our new strategy going forward and it’s definitely been a game-changer and the Taliban is definitely feeling it.”
“All the areas where they thought they were safe and they are no longer so,” he further remarked.
With the defeat of the Islamic State in Iraq, the U.S. is steadily moving troops from from Iraq to Afghanistan to deal with the continued threat of terrorism posed by the Taliban.
As of 2016, an estimated 5,000 U.S. military personnel were stationed in Iraq.
A version of this article appeared on The Daily Caller News Foundation website.
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