US Airstrikes Continue in Afghanistan Despite Peace Deal

February rate of strikes was second highest since 2009

US officials have loudly criticized the Taliban for not complying with an agreed-to reduction in violence since signing a peace deal in Afghanistan. Data, however, suggests that the US isn’t doing much better, and airstrikes have been remarkably steady around the peace process.

The latest data shows that in February, immediately ahead of the signing of the deal, US forces dropped 360 weapons, the second highest February on record since 2009. It was down only slightly from January, representing it being a longer month.

Airstrikes in Iraq and Syria were relatively low, far down from the 2019 levels. This makes sense, as the war is effectively over, and US strikes in Iraq are now mostly against Iraqi Shi’ite militias, and then only sparingly.

It’s not clear who the US is attacking in Afghanistan, as there generally aren’t reports of single strikes anymore. There was talk that the US was supporting the Taliban in anti-ISIS operations, but that ‘s surely not to the full extent of the US airstrike rate in 2019.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.