Just months away from what President Obama refers to as the "end of the U.S. combat mission" in Afghanistan, the U.S. military escalated its air bombardments on the country.
In response to an information request from the Boston Globe, Central Command revealed that during the month of August, the U.S. carried out 436 "weapons releases" on Afghanistan, referring to air strikes. This is the highest number of air strikes on Afghanistan since August 2012, according to U.S. Central Command's own data, pictured in the graph below.
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Military officials are still working to compile data for the month of September, officials told the paper.
The data was released just over a week after Afghanistan's new president, Ashraf Ghani, approved the U.S. Bilateral Security Agreement, which locks in at least another decade of U.S. military presence in the country, far past the formal "end" to the war at the conclusion of this year. The heightened bombings, furthermore, were revealed the same week the "longest war" entered its 14th year.
