KABUL - The U.S forces in Afghanistan have launched new air strikes against Taliban targets in recent days under a new plan approved earlier this month by the U.S President Barack Obama.
Under the new plan, the U.S military will have expanded authorities to bolster the Afghan security forces in their offensives against the Taliban.
"The first use of these authorities involved air strikes and they were in the southern portion of Afghanistan, but I can't give you much beyond that in part, because again there is ongoing operations," pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said.
On the basis of the new authorities, the U.S forces will also provide surveillance and intelligence support to their Afghan counterparts during the military missions and air support.
"The reflective and ongoing nature of the operation, just want to be very careful in terms of what's to come to the enemy, so I can give this big picture at this point" Peter Cook said.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan's Ministry of Defense (MoD) has welcomed the move and said its a strategic shift which it believes would give the Afghan forces the upper hand in their military campaign against the Taliban militants.
"We use U.S air power support, it is a positive move to eliminate terror hideouts in Afghanistan," Dawlat Waziri, spokesman to MoD said.
"Air operations and strikes are the most effective way to eradicate the enemy," former deputy minister of interior Mirza Mohammad Yarmand said.
The expanded U.S combat role comes at a time that the Taliban insurgency has bounded back less than two years after the U.S and the coalition forces pulled their troops out of Afghanistan, transitioning the overall security responsibility of the country to conventional forces who according to military experts were still in need of a strong air force and military equipment.(Tolonews)