DefenceTalkTop US military leaders acknowledged Tuesday that the Taliban’s rapid takeover in Afghanistan took them by surprise and expressed concern the Islamic regime has not broken ties with Al-Qaeda. “We helped build a state, but we could not forge a nation,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing about the US […]

DefenceTalkThe collapse of the Afghan army that allowed Taliban fighters to take control of Kabul cast a stark light on errors committed over 20 years by the Pentagon as it spent billions of dollars in Afghanistan. The wrong equipment Washington spent $83 billion in its effort to create a modern army mirroring its own. In […]

DefenceTalkDefense Secretary Jim Mattis said Monday that the US military is adjusting tactics in Afghanistan as the Taliban continue to inflict heavy casualties on local forces. The Taliban are killing hundreds of Afghan army and police forces each month. The New York Times said the death toll is making it harder to recruit new soldiers. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-adjusts-tactics-as-afghan-army-toll-rises-mattis-71876/

DefenceTalkAn Afghan army helicopter crashed in northern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing all seven people on board, the defence ministry said, citing technical failure. But the Taliban claimed they shot down the M-17 helicopter in Baghlan province, as the insurgents step up attacks on government forces. “Around 4am, two M-17 helicopters were supplying a base in […]https://www.defencetalk.com/seven-dead-as-afghan-army-copter-crashes-officials-68330/

DefenceTalkSoldiers with 2nd Platoon, 49th Explosive Ordinance Disposal Company, attached to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), supported the Afghan National Army’s EOD team from the 4th Kandak, 1st Brigade, 203rd Corps, with running a counter improvised explosive device lane for the 4th Kandak Route Clearance Company, June 20, at Camp […]https://www.defencetalk.com/eod-supports-afghan-armys-counter-ied-training-48246/