In its effort to stall the advance of Taliban the Afghan government is banking on India, Iran, Russia and the United States to beef up its air power amid Washington’s decision to withdraw its forces from the Hindukush mountains.
In its effort to stall the advance of Taliban the Afghan government is banking on India, Iran, Russia and the United States to beef up its air power amid Washington’s decision to withdraw its forces from the Hindukush mountains.
The Afghan government is confident to break the Taliban’s advance, provided the dilution of air power following the US withdrawal is sufficiently compensated.
But as of now the Afghans face a steep uphill task.
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Afghan air force has 162 airplanes and helicopters, providing the government considerable fire power. But a major problem is arising as the US is not only withdrawing its troops but also the bulk of the 16,000 security contractors from Afghanistan, who have been maintaining these planes to keep them in fly-away conditions. As a result, over time, a large part of the Afghan air force may face attrition and end up being grounded, unless this problem is assuredly resolved.
The Afghan air force possesses A-29 Super Tucano strike aircraft and AC-208 Combat Caravan planes. Both these propeller-driven planes can fire laser-guided bombs to ground targets, held by the Taliban, the Politico magazine is reporting.
Besides the US has supplied the Afghans new Black Hawk helicopters. Since 2014, the US has dispatched 53 UH-60 Black Hawk choppers, after it forced the Afghans not to buy the Russian-made Mi-17 workhorse helicopters, following the deterioration of US-Russia ties.
The Taliban is well aware that Afghan air power is key to victory, defeat or a draw. Consequently, the Pak-backed militant group is carrying out targeted assassinations of pilots, to dimmish the potency of the Afghan air force.
Unsurprisingly, the Afghans are making a feverish effort to keep up their dominance in the air by seeking help from friendly countries including India, Iran, Russia and the United States.
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In an interview with the CNN-TV18 on Friday, Afghanistan’s ambassador to India, Farid Mamundzay asserted that should the Afghan government have “15 to 20 Mi-35 helicopters, or 30 to 40 Black Hawks, they (the Taliban) would not be able to hold ground”.
He added: “Taliban have the same equipment, weapons and ammunition that we have. Our superiority lies in air support and we appreciate the support that the US has recently promised, that they would support us with more air support. We call on all responsible countries in the region, including Russia, Iran and India, to provide us the required air support.”
CNN-News 18, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9tKtns4S8Q
Mamundzay pointed out that despite the hype that was being created, the Afghan army significantly outnumbered the Taliban. “We outnumber Taliban by five or six times, a force of 70,000 to 75,000 cannot face a force of around 400,000…We are going through a turbulent time, but the resilience of our people and the heroic patriotism of our forces is there to defend Afghanistan,” he observed.
Pointing to the Taliban’s game plan before entering negotiations after winter, the Afghan envoy said: “We feel that Taliban are buying time for themselves to continue with their military adventurism and capture more land. And then when we get to winter, they will propose peace negotiations when fighting is difficult. And then they speak from the position of strength, that we hold XYZ percentage of the landmass, now agree to a peace deal on our terms, or else face defeat.”
