800 Aviation Troops Deploying To Afghanistan

خبر ها - افغانستان

چهارشنبه 6 اسد 1395 ساعت 10:16 نوشته شده توسط News Agencies

Translations pending.

The U.S Army has confirmed that about 800 soldiers from an aviation unit are deploying to Afghanistan this summer.

The 1st Combat Aviation Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas will deploy on a regular rotation, according to a news release issued on Tuesday.

According to Lt. Col. Kimeisha McCullum, a division spokeswoman, the unit will utilize Blackhawks, Chinooks and Apache helicopters with a primary mission of supporting Afghan military efforts.

McCullum said the soldiers can expect medical evacuation and logistical support missions, but declined to say whether U.S. troops will play a role in close air support or training their Afghan crewmember counterparts.
The deployment comes after a deadly suicide bombing in Kabul on Saturday that killed over 80 people. Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, the U.S has said new authorities given to U.S. troops in Afghanistan to more proactively target the Taliban have already made a difference, but troop caps continue to present problems, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said Monday after a visit to the country.

"One of the commanders, this may not be an exact quote, but I wrote it down at the time: 'We've done more good in the last 30 days than the entire nine months before, and we've only had to drop one bomb, but just having an airplane overhead is a huge boost for the Afghans and does huge damage to the morale of the Taliban,'" Rep. Mac Thoberry said he was told during his trip.

"And that sort of sentiment we saw in a variety of places.

"I think there are really signs of progress," he added.

"At the same time, there's still lots of threats there."

U.S President Barack Obama in June approved new authorities for U.S. troops that allow them greater ability to accompany conventional Afghan forces that are fighting the Taliban, as well as provide more close air support.

In addition to the help of more U.S. airpower, the Afghan forces themselves are performing better, Thoberry said.

Last year was the first year Afghans led the fight against the Taliban after U.S. combat operations were officially declared over in December 2014.

"Last year's fighting season was a tough one," he said. "This year they are performing much better, and that was a uniform opinion that we got everywhere."

This weekend's attack in Kabul, which killed at least 80 people and for which Daesh took credit, underscores the number of threats in the country, he said.

"The thing I was struck by is how many different actors are in Afghanistan, and while, as I mentioned, the strong takeaway was the loosing somewhat has made a big difference, there are still a number of restrictions on who our folks can target and under what circumstances they can get involved," Thoberry said, listing the Taliban, the Haqqani network, al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Daesh as examples of the many threats in Afghanistan.

Earlier this month, Obama announced he would leave about 8,400 U.S. troops in the country instead of the 5,500 he had previously planned to leave. Republicans mostly welcomed the decision to leave more troops but questioned why there was any reduction.