In April US drops 460 bombs or missiles on Afgfhanistan

American warplanes in April dropped more weapons on Afghanistan than in any single month since 2012. The increase in use of air power is in part due to an effort by the US to wipe out the Islamic State(IS) presence in Afghanistan.

The IS is mainly in an eastern province near the border but has carried out terror attacks further afield. The US wants to wipe the group out if possible. Attacks by the US included dropping the Mother of All Bombs (MOAB) on their hideouts in the mountains near the border. However, there are still clashes with the group in the area.

The US dropped 460 bombs, missiles, or other ordnance in April. This is more than twice the 203 weapons that were dropped during the month of March. It is more than seven times what were dropped during April of last year. Trump is currently still considering a proposal from his top military advisers that would have him send another 3,000 to 5,000 troops to Afghanistan. At present there are about 8,4000 together with 6,500 coalition troops in Afghanistan most of whom are there to train and support Afghan security forces. However, some US special forces are engaged in anti-terror attacks. The additional troops could also help increase air support as defense of Afghan positions often relies on trained air controllers on the ground.

The last time when more weapons were dropped in August of 2012 there were 80,000 US troops still in Afghanistan in a combat role. The total number of weapons released this year to the end of April were 917. In all of 2016 there were 1,337 and in 2015 the first year of the non-combat mission there were 947. US military spokesperson Captain Bill Salvin said of the increased activity: "The two main reasons are this is the first spring fighting season since the expanded authorities were granted. And General Nicholson has stated the goal to eliminate ISIS-K in Afghanistan in 2017, which has required more offensive operations and strategic effects support."

The reported number did not include strikes by the US army attack helicopters. However, Salvin said that in all US forces had conducted 898 "kinetic strikes" in the first four months of 2017 compared to less than 300 in the same period of 2016. The number of counter-terrorism strikes had also increased to 92 compared with just 55 in March. There were 296 strikes designed to support Afghan forces in April as compared with just 115 in March. There were also 62 times US aircraft went to provide "strategic effects" for Afghan forces compared to only 6 times in March. The increased activity has resulted in increased reports of civilian deaths. During the first quarter of 2017, 72 civilians were killed as well as 76 wounded by aerial operations an increase from only 8 dead and 21 wounded during the same period last year. according to the UN.

There appears to be division within the Trump administration with some reluctant to spend more money and send more troops into a war that has lasted 16 years and which there is little chance of winning even with more troops. One alternative would be to try and do more with those troops that are in the country now. The Afghan forces are suffering multiple casualties and setbacks.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, told reporters that the Trump administration's policy review on Afghanistan is still a work in progress and that it could be another two weeks at least before something would be presented to Trump. A Bloomberg article notes: " One option Trump is weighing would add 5,000 troops. But that could increase military casualties without long-term gains in a country that has stymied foreign militaries dating back at least to the British occupation of the 1800s." Another commentator Dan Feldman who is a former State Department special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan said: “We’ll have a small fraction of the total troop strength we had at their apex a few years ago, close to 100,000 U.S. troops and 140,000 total international forces. If that didn’t achieve stability in Afghanistan, how will this modest increase help break the stalemate?"

An anonymous UK official said that his country would contribute more troops to a non-combat effort. Overall numbers to be sent will be discussed in another NATO meeting in June according to the official. It appears that any increased numbers approved are unlikely to be enough to defeat the Taliban.

US special forces still fighting the Islamic State near site of huge bomb blast in Afghanistan

U.S. troops with their Afghan allies are still battling suspected Islamic State fighters in the area where the massive Mother of All Bombs (MOAB) was dropped last week in eastern Afghanistan, according to a U.S. military official.

The MOAB or GBU-43, Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb was dropped last Thursday from a US MC-130 aircraft in the Achin district of Nangarhar province on the border with Pakistan. The bombed tunnel-area deep in the mountains was apparently originally built with the help of the CIA to help the jihadists fighting the Soviet-backed Afghan regime.

A full week after U.S. forces dropped the 21,600-pound bomb, U.S. officials released little information about the strike. Security forces continue to block access to the site. Afghan officials have released body counts of from 36 to 96 over the last six days. These reports are not confirmed by U.S. officials as yet. An Afghan security source said that most of those killed were members of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or the Laskar-e-Taliba also based in Pakistan. The Afghan news agency TOLO was also told that alongside many Pakistanis who were killed there were 12 Tajiks and 13 Indian nationals who had joined the Islmic State. The Hindustan Times reported an Afghan security official claimed that 13 IS commanders had been killed at least two from India. There is a lack of independent confirmation of these reports and officials in New Delhi and Kabul did not confirm them. The Amaq News Agency the IS media outlet claimed none of its fighters had been killed. The site is off limits to any independent reporting sources.

The use of the bomb has been condemned by former president Hamid Karzai and the Afghan ambassador to Pakistan. However, the present president claims the bombing was coordinated with Afghan officials. After having fought alongside Afghan forces, U.S. troops have since left but are continuing operations in the border area. U.S. military spokesperson Captain William Salvin said: "Access has been restricted but that's because it's a combat zone. We are in contact with the enemy." He said that he has high confidence that no civilians were killed. Even some Afghan officials are complaining they lack information about the effects of the bomb. One anonymous senior security official said: "We were and we are kept in the dark and still we haven’t been able to go to the site, We are confused ourselves and we wonder what MOAB could have caused." It may be that U.S. officials do not trust many Afghans and are concerned that the Taliban would be tipped off if too many knew. At a meeting of Afghan security council some members told president Ashraf Ghani that the lack of information played directly into the narrative of the IS that in radio broadcasts is claiming none of its members were killed. A recent Islamic State radio broadcast claimed: "We haven't suffered any casualties from this bomb, We are fighting for the sake of God, who is much stronger than this bomb." U.S. Captain Salvin would not comment on claims by Afghan officials that nearly 100 IS fighters were killed by the blast. Salvin said only that U.S. assessments were ongoing and it appeared that the strike collapsed many tunnels, destroyed mines, and "reduced" several nearby structures. He said US troops had used explosives to collapse other tunnel entrances not destroyed by the blast. Local had been warned that there would be operations in the area through drops of leaflets.

Several villages near the site had earlier been abandoned after fighting in the area increased between IS and US-backed Afghan forces. Khan Afzai a local policeman on patrol in a village less than a mile from the bomb site said: "There were daily bombings and fighting. Afghan forces used to fire artillery, bombs were dropped by foreign aircraft, and even Daesh (IS) fired rockets at us and at the villagers." Kate Clark a senior researcher at the Afghan Analysts network said: "The people who'd normally be talking have fled, and there have been very few reports from inside Islamic State territory. The jury's still out on many things with this strike." Some locals have suggested there may even have been prisoners in the complex but since IS first took over the complex in 2015 not much is known about what happens there. The IS fighters are battling not just the Afghan government forces supported by the US but also the rival main Taliban group.

The bombing is used to provide evidence of Trump's resolve to aggressively deal with America's enemies. It also is said to send a message to North Korea. However, it may have increased anti-U.S. feeling in Afghanistan. Many may feel that their country is being used simply as a testing ground for new U.S. weapons. It appears not to have hurt the IS all that much let alone done anything to stop the advance of the Taliban in some areas of Afghanistan. On the appended video, the gender of the bomb is changed to be the Father of All Bombs.