Biden likely to lean on drone warfare in Afghanistan
District of Columbia | September 1, 2021
The Biden administration is expected to increasingly rely on drone surveillance and strikes for counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan following Monday’s U.S. exit from the country after 20 years of war. The drone attacks that President Biden authorized – including a Friday strike in Jalalabad near the Pakistan border that killed two militants, and a Sunday strike in Kabul that destroyed an ISIS-K car bomb – suggest that military operations are likely to persist. But with boots no longer on the ground, the administration is limited in its options to deter terrorist threats, a situation complicated by limited intelligence and the reconnaissance needed to guide any future strikes. The administration’s new reliance on unmanned aerial vehicles limits the options when it comes to conducting effective counter-terrorism operations…. (Excerpts from The Hill)