DI SPATC H E S| AFGHANISTAN .American and Western militaries functioned, and how they could successfully be challenged. As the departure date had been announced, the Taliban had time to plan their next steps.
Airmen guide qualified evacuees aboard an Air Force C-17 Globemaster III while supporting the noncombatant evacuation operation in Afghanistan on Aug. 24, 2021.
Throughout these years, the U.S. and its allies expanded the Afghan military and security forces. Despite building and equipping a 300,000-member Afghan security force, in the summer of 2021, the Afghans evaporated under attacks by the Taliban while U.S. forces withdrew. Only 30,000 Afghan commandos bravely attempted to stymie the Taliban’s advance. Unfortunately, the Afghan military infrastructure could not sustain the combat requirements in terms of medevac, food, ammunition, fuel, reinforcement and air and fire support. The hasty U.S.withdrawal left the Afghan army without the necessary sustainability or supporting fire assets. Once the Afghan army realized U.S. ground forces were withdrawing out of Bagram airbase and elsewhere, they understood their support requirements to defeat the Taliban could not be sustained and that, in operational terms, the end was inevitable. By 2021, the Afghan army was in part a mirror image of the U.S. army — it was a modern ground force that required substantial investment in intelligence assets, fire support, logistics and airpower to provide air-to-ground support as well as logistics and medevac. It was inevitable that as U.S. ground units withdrew from their key bases, their ability to assist and sustain Afghan forces in the field diminished. The hurried departure had a direct impact upon the morale of the Afghan National Army, which was now the target of sustained Taliban assaults, resulting in Afghan soldiers realizing the futility of pursuing the fight against the advancing Taliban, thus prompting widespread surrender. The American departure and the cessation of their innate support helped to create the tactical, operational and strategic vacuum of which the Taliban forces expeditiously and understandably took immediate advantage. Friction with ISIS-K
Paratroopers facilitate the safe evacuation of U.S. citizens, special immigrant visa applicants and other at-risk Afghans out of Kabul on Aug. 22, 2021.
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When the Taliban opened the prison in Kabul, one of the occupants was reportedly Abu Omar Khorasani, the leader of ISIS-K. Reports indicate that Taliban fighters executed him on the spot. According to ISIS-K, the Taliban is a nationalist apostate group; moreover, the ISIS-K view for proFALL 2021 | OCT-NOV-DEC
AIR FORCE SENIOR AIRMAN TAYLOR CRUL / U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Afghan security forces
