Washington : As the US military opens a new front in its air war in Afghanistan, targeting the Taliban’s poppy-processing factories and dropping thousands more bombs, experts are warning of the risk of alienating the local population.
The quickening tempo comes after President Donald Trump in August approved broad new powers for General John Nicholson, who commands US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Numbers reveal a massive uptick in air strikes already, with the US military on course to triple the number of bombs it has dropped this year.
As of October 31, the US had released 3,554 weapons in Afghanistan, compared to 1,337 for all of 2016, when the war was overseen by then president Barack Obama.
Trump’s new rules mean America can now proactively bomb the Taliban, where before strikes were restricted to backing up Afghan partners on the ground.
Nicholson on Monday announced a series of strikes on at least 10 labs used to process opium into heroin, dealing a blow to a key source of Taliban funding.
Huge B-52 bombers and F-22 Raptor stealth fighters destroyed the facilities in rural Helmand, marking the first time F-22s had been used in Afghanistan.
The Air Force has a growing stash of high-tech planes and drones at its disposal as operations against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq wind down.
America often boasts that its bomb-dropping technologies are the most precise in history.
But Andrea Prasow, deputy Washington Director at Human Rights Watch, said an increase in air strikes would likely lead to more civilian deaths and that, in turn, risks alienating the Afghans.
“The Trump adminstration has been clear it doesn’t want to do so-called ‘nation building,’ but if the primary focus is on military engagement then the US will be creating enemies where it should be creating friends,” she told AFP.
An increase in civilian harm also could anger the international community, with many NATO nations already weary of Afghanistan commitments after 16 years of war.
In 2009, a German NATO commander called in an air strike in the northern city of Kunduz, with US planes hitting two fuel tankers stolen by the Taliban, killing about 100 people, including many civilians. The fallout from the bombing led to a backlash among German voters.
And in 2015 a US air strike during fighting hit a Kunduz hospital operated by Medecins Sans Frontieres, killing 42 people and sparking international outrage.
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