Air war grows in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan – Once sharply curtailed because of complaints over civilian casualties, U.S. and NATO forces have ramped up the air war in Afghanistan since this summer.

Coalition aircraft dropped 1,000 bombs and missiles in October – one of the highest monthly totals of the 9-year-old war. Despite large increases in sorties and weapons fired, the number of civilians killed in air operations is slightly down this year, NATO officials say, because of coalition restrictions on engaging insurgents.

Top NATO commander Gen. David Petraeus’ counterinsurgency strategy calls for securing population centers and bolstering governance and economic development, but at the same time he’s unleashed heavy force on the battlefield. The international force is trying to kill and capture insurgent leaders to pressure the Taliban to give up the fight and reconcile with the Afghan government.

The air war in Afghanistan, which began on Oct. 7, 2001, when President George W. Bush ordered strikes on Taliban targets, has accelerated every month since July as 30,000 U.S. troops have streamed into the country and coalition forces have penetrated deeply into Taliban strongholds.