US deploys more air power to cover Afghanistan withdrawal as fighting rages

America has deployed more combat jets to cover the withdrawal of its last troops from Afghanistan as the US pullout forges on amid heavy Taliban assaults on Afghan forces.

As they leave, the Americans are carefully stripping once-busy military sites of anything of value, a clear sign that soon the Afghans will be on their own.

At Kandahar Airfield in the south of the country, there is almost nothing left of what was once a wartime city, with its famous and much derided boardwalk that housed snack shops, chain restaurants, a hockey rink and trinket stores.

Tens of thousands of troops used to be based there. Now the gym is half demolished, the passenger terminal’s chairs are gathering dust, and the boardwalk is bare.

Anything expensive that is too big to be taken home is destroyed in order to prevent it being sold off and fuelling corruption.

“Now, this is what really upsets me,” said Maj. Mohammed Bashir Zahid, an officer in charge of a small Afghan air command centre, pointing to a picture on his phone of a wrecked SUV, the NYT reported.

To help ease the transition, a dozen F-18 planes have been put on standby in the region, on top of an extra six B-52 long-range bombers already announced, to provide air support for the end of America's campaign.

After heavy fighting in the western suburbs of Helmand's capital earlier this week, the Pentagon said the militants are currently launching some 80 to 120 attacks on Afghan government targets each day.

A series of bases were reported overrun in the northern province of Baghlan on Thursday and the country's second largest dam was taken by the militants in Kandahar province.

Gen Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said that US forces themselves have not yet been hit during the pull out, which Joe Biden says will be complete by September.

America has a little over 3,000 troops to pull out, but hundreds of British troops based in Kabul will also have to be withdrawn as part of the international military departure.

The pull-out is proceeding smoothly, despite the violence, officials say, with the equivalent of more than 60 C-17 cargo planes worth of equipment having left the country since Mr Biden announced his intention to leave.

Gen Austin Miller, the top US and Nato general in the country, frequently uses WhatsApp to keep in touch with corps commanders who are asking for help, according to the New York Times.

"Less than one week in, the drawdown is going according to plan," the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin said.

Yet while the withdrawal is proceeding, US generals have decided they need to briefly increase the firepower available in case the situation worsens.

How the Afghan forces will hold up on their own is now one of the biggest questions hanging over the operation. American generals have admitted they may struggle against an onslaught by the Taliban, who have been buoyed by the withdrawal of US forces after nearly 20 years.

Afghan forces continue to take heavy casualties, while corruption and Taliban attacks on roads have undermined the military's logistics and made it often difficult to relieve or re-supply bases in large parts of the country.

The Taliban thrust against Lashkar Gah was stopped earlier this week, but not before the insurgents had penetrated the suburb of Bolan.

"We're hopeful that the Afghan security forces will play a major role in stopping the Taliban," Gen Austin said.

"What we're seeing unfold is what we expected to unfold: increased pressure" on the Afghan forces, he said.

Billions of dollars have been poured into the Afghan army and police, but they still remain reliant on US air support and intelligence.

Gen Miller said: “[Afghan forces] are fighting for their own country now, so it's not a foregone conclusion, in my professional military estimate, that the Taliban automatically win and Kabul falls, or any of those kinds of dire predictions."

“There's a significant military capability in the Afghan government. We have to see how this plays out."