bobdina
09-07-2009, 01:19 PM
Number of bombs dropped in Afghanistan declines
By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Sep 7, 2009 10:54:55 EDT
While the fighting in Afghanistan has intensified this summer, the number of bombs released has decreased.
During June, July and August, warplanes over Afghanistan dropped 1,211 bombs, according to Air Forces Central Command figures released Thursday. For the same months in 2007, the jets released 2,366 bombs.
Those numbers don’t include strafing runs, launches of small rockets or rounds fired by helicopters and special operations gunships.
Most of the airstrikes were close-air support missions, protecting troops in combat.
AFCent said that over the three months, planes responded to 1,752 calls of troops under fire. That’s 420 more than last year for the same three months.
The decrease in bomb strikes came as U.S. officials were under pressure to rein in the use of airstrikes, especially when there was a chance of civilian deaths.
In June, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, issued new orders limiting the use of airstrikes.
“Air power contains the seeds of our own destruction if we do not use it responsibly,” McChrystal told his senior commanders, The New York Times reported.
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/09/airforce_airstrike_decrease_090309w/
By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Sep 7, 2009 10:54:55 EDT
While the fighting in Afghanistan has intensified this summer, the number of bombs released has decreased.
During June, July and August, warplanes over Afghanistan dropped 1,211 bombs, according to Air Forces Central Command figures released Thursday. For the same months in 2007, the jets released 2,366 bombs.
Those numbers don’t include strafing runs, launches of small rockets or rounds fired by helicopters and special operations gunships.
Most of the airstrikes were close-air support missions, protecting troops in combat.
AFCent said that over the three months, planes responded to 1,752 calls of troops under fire. That’s 420 more than last year for the same three months.
The decrease in bomb strikes came as U.S. officials were under pressure to rein in the use of airstrikes, especially when there was a chance of civilian deaths.
In June, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, issued new orders limiting the use of airstrikes.
“Air power contains the seeds of our own destruction if we do not use it responsibly,” McChrystal told his senior commanders, The New York Times reported.
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/09/airforce_airstrike_decrease_090309w/