Airstrikes in Afghanistan Increased Dramatically in February

The number of US airstrikes in Afghanistan almost quadrupled in February from the previous month, according to new statistics released this week. US aircraft, as part of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, conducted 200 airstrikes in 53 sorties with at least one bomb dropped, according to numbers released Tuesday by Air Forces Central Command. This compares to 54 strikes in 18 sorties in January. February’s total is the highest since October, and the second highest since September 2014, according to AFCENT. So far this year in Afghanistan, US aircraft have also flown 656 tanker sorties, offloading 2,760 pounds of fuel. The numbers as part of the mission in Afghanistan are still dramatically less than those in Iraq and Syria. In February, US and coalition aircraft dropped 3,440 bombs in 1,100 sorties with at least one weapon released, according to AFCENT.