US aircraft hit ISIS targets in Afghanistan with about 80 airstrikes through the end of March, the strong majority of the nearly 100 airstrikes conducted during the first three months of the year. The strikes, which occurred mostly in the Nangarhar Province, hit every part of the ISIS network in an effort to keep the terrorists focused on “trying to survive” instead of planning attacks, Army Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, the deputy chief of staff for communication for the Resolute Support mission, said during a Thursday briefing. Three months ago, US intelligence showed ISIS personnel in six to eight districts. N?ow it appears like that number has shrunk to about two to three districts. The total ISIS force in Afghanistan is somewhere between 1,000 and 3,000, Cleveland said. (See also: Increasing Airstrikes in Afghanistan.)
Adm. Christopher Grady, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs and head of the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, is pushing a “portfolio” approach to requirements and wants his position to have “more teeth” so he can enforce it.