U.S. air raids in Afghanistan rise in '19

Statistics show strikes highest since ’13; peace envoy says Taliban talks stagnant

In this photo released by Inter Services Public Relations of Pakistan's military, U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, left, talks with Pakistani Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa during a meeting in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. During the meeting, matters of mutual interest including overall regional security situation and ongoing Afghanistan Reconciliation Process were discussed, official said.(Inter Services Public Relations via AP)
In this photo released by Inter Services Public Relations of Pakistan's military, U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, left, talks with Pakistani Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa during a meeting in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. During the meeting, matters of mutual interest including overall regional security situation and ongoing Afghanistan Reconciliation Process were discussed, official said.(Inter Services Public Relations via AP)

ISLAMABAD -- New U.S. Air Force statistics show the U.S. dropped more bombs on Afghanistan last year than any year since 2013, even as Washington's peace envoy sought to boost regional support for a reduction in violence ahead of a final deal to end America's longest war.

U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad arrived Saturday in Kabul where he told Afghan President Ashraf Ghani there has been "no notable progress" in talks in Pakistan with the Taliban. However, he said he was hopeful of reaching an understanding with them on a reduction of hostilities without offering any time frame, according to a statement issued late Saturday from the presidential palace.

Earlier on Saturday, the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, said Khalilzad was in Pakistan the previous day to rally support for getting an agreement with the Taliban to reduce their attacks, as a first step toward a peace agreement to end 18 years of war in neighboring Afghanistan.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said it supported a quick peace deal with the Taliban and repeated Washington's call for a reduction in violence.

But the violence on the side of Afghan government forces and its U.S. allies also has raised concerns. Stepped-up bombings by the United States and operations by CIA-trained Afghan special forces -- several of which have resulted in civilian casualties -- have been sharply criticized by human-rights groups, some Afghan officials and even resulted in the sacking of Afghanistan's intelligence chief.

Increasing U.S. air attacks began in 2018 and have led to higher death tolls in the conflict. In 2019, the U.S. Air Force dropped 7,423 bombs on Afghanistan, up slightly from 2018 when it dropped 7,362 bombs on the war-shattered country, according to statistics from the U.S. Central Command Combined Air Operations Center. This compares to a far lower 4,361 bombs dropped in 2017 and 1,337 in 2016, according to their statistics.

The U.S. military statistics said that the Air Force carried out 2,434 sorties last year, in which at least one bombing or strike took place in Afghanistan.

The United Nations has blamed the increased U.S. bombing, at least in part, for a rise in civilian casualties in Afghanistan. For the first time since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, the U.N. said that Afghan government forces and its U.S. allies killed more civilians in the first three months of last year than insurgents.

The U.N. also points out that insurgent bombings and attacks wounded more civilians during the same period and almost daily the Taliban targeted military and government officials. The militants now control or hold sway over nearly half of Afghanistan. The U.N. has called for all sides in the protracted conflict to take better care to avoid civilian casualties.

The most recent airstrike to raise anger in Afghanistan occurred overnight Friday when six family members, including a child, were killed in a northern province. The U.S. military initially said the airstrike in Kunduz killed three Taliban and destroyed a cache of weapons.

U.S. officials have since said the strike is under investigation, in reply to queries from The Associated Press.

"We are aware of the reports of civilian casualties reported to have occurred in Dasht-e-Archi district or Imam Sahib district, Kunduz Province, on Jan. 30," a U.S. military statement said. "We are looking into these reports and will provide more information when it becomes available."

Family members and local officials said the dead were all civilians, including an infant.

The civilians killed were relatives of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who was an anti-government insurgent before signing a peace agreement with Ghani's government. He is now a politician in Kabul, and was a candidate in September's presidential race.

In 2016 when Hekmatyar signed the peace deal, it was hoped it would be a blueprint for a peace deal with the Taliban.

His son, Adbulrahman Hekmatyar, said the dead were two uncles, their wives and an infant who were returning from a funeral in the Dasht-e-Archi district, an area largely under Taliban control.

In a tweet Friday, former President Hamid Karzai condemned the airstrike saying: "the bombings of our homes and villages is an injustice against our people & a violation of our national sovereignty."

He called for "the end to all military operations in our country."

Earlier, the Taliban said they offered Khalilzad a 10-day cease-fire window in which to sign a peace agreement that would be followed by intra-Afghan negotiations.

Information for this article was contributed by Tameem Akhgar of The Associated Press.

A Section on 02/02/2020

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