Airstrikes, rocket attacks, and ongoing fighting have killed 20 civilians and destroyed a health clinic and a school in Lashkargah, the capital of the southern Afghan province of Helmand, TOLOnews reported.
Security sources told the media outlet that Taliban* militants were hiding in the districts where the destroyed school and clinic were located. These districts were reportedly targeted by US airstrikes, possibly by B-52 Stratofortress bombers.
The Times reported, citing US defence sources, that Washington had sent B-52 bombers to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban. Last week, bombers launched airstrikes against the militants in the capital of the northern province of Jowzjan, Sheberghan.
Afghanistan has witnessed a rise in violence in recent weeks as the radical Islamist movement stepped up its offensive after international troops began withdrawing from the country in May. The Taliban has overrun rural and border regions and started an offensive on cities. The troop pullout was one of the points of an agreement that the radical group and the United States reached in Doha in February 2020.
