The Taliban is believed to be using drones for the first time to film its attacks, a capability of which the U.S. military was previously unaware.
A video circulated on the Internet on Friday that purportedly came from a Taliban drone and showed footage of a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attack in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
The video was posted on Twitter by user Ahmet Yar, who describes himself as a freelance journalist, saying the video recorded an attack on the base in Nawa district. He said it was the first time the Taliban had used a drone for such a purpose.
Questioned about the video on Friday, Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, a spokesman for the Resolute Support Mission, said he was not aware of the video so he could not comment on it specifically.
“We have not seen that capability up to this point so I am not aware of them having a drone capability,” he told reporters at the Pentagon via video teleconference.
Cleveland also provided an update on the broader fight in Afghanistan, saying that the Afghan security forces have made gains compared to this same time last year, but that recent attempted attacks by the Taliban prove that it continues to be a tough fight.
U.S. forces in Afghanistan were also given authority to target the Islamic State presence in Afghanistan and have reduced its strength in the region by 15 to 20 percent, Cleveland said. That means about 1,000 Islamic State fighters are still in the area.
The U.S. has conducted 230 counterterrorism strikes in Afghanistan so far this year. Of those, between two-thirds and three-quarters are targeting the Islamic State. The remaining are focused on al Qaeda.
American forces in Afghanistan are preparing to drawdown by Jan. 1 to 8,400 troops from about 9,800 today. Despite the smaller force size, Cleveland said the American mission will not lose any capabilities through the use of contractors and civilians, as well as moving administrative jobs outside of Afghanistan.
“Staying at 8,400 will give us that capability down in Helmand, in Kandahar, in the Ghazni area as well as in the Nangarhar, Laghman area. And so from a capability standpoint, we will be able to continue that and then the counter-terrorism capability will remain also,” he said.
Two Americans, one soldier and one Defense Department civilian, were killed this week in what has been deemed an “inside the wire” attack when they were inspecting an ammunition supply point.
Cleveland provided little new information on the attack, saying only that it is still under investigation so could not yet be designated definitively as a “green-on-blue” attack. While the attacker was wearing an Afghan military uniform, his identity is still unknown.
