Afghan bombing a sign of US muscularity

With the deployment of the most powerful US conventional bomb to have ever been used in combat, US President Donald Trump has signalled a more muscular US foreign policy towards the Islamic State (ISIS). It is indeed a reflection of the fear that war weary ISIS fighters are seeking sanctuaries and attack bases in Afghanistan with US and Russian forces playing active roles in Syria and Iraq. The 21,600 pound (9,797 kg) GBU-43 bomb, which had 11 tonnes of explosives, was dropped from a MC-130 aircraft in the Achin district of Nangarhar province, close to the border with Pakistan, said Pentagon. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the bombing “targeted a system of tunnels and caves that ISIS fighters used to move around freely, making it easier for them to target US military advisers and Afghan forces in the area.” At least 36 ISIS fighters were eliminated in the attack including a couple of new recruits from Kerala. That Trump has acted decisively against ISIS terrorists should come as a relief to India which is already bearing the brunt of the terror outfit’s operations in Kashmir.

Estimates of the ISIS strength in Afghanistan vary. US officials have said they believe the movement has only 700 fighters but Afghan officials estimate it has about 1,500. Afghan soldiers and police, with the aid of thousands of foreign military advisers, are struggling to hold off a resurgent insurgency led by the Taliban, as well as other groups like Islamic State. The US government's top watchdog on Afghanistan said earlier this year that the Afghan government controls less than 60 per cent of the country.

The Afghanistan bombing is also perhaps Trump’s way of holding out a warning to Syria and to North Korea against any adventurism against the Americans. With the new President in a decisive mood, India must step up pressure on him to destroy terrorist hideouts and training camps in Pakistan- occupied Kashmir .The US is not known to step in where its own citizens are not in trouble but that Pakistan has emerged as an epicentre of terror worldwide cannot be unknown to Trump and his men. Hardcore terrorists have been thriving in Pakistan with the tacit approval of the government and the military there and it would be prudent that the US comes down hard on groups that could unleash terror in a more virulent form in coming years. The Mumbai terror attacks in which some Americans had lost their lives cannot be lost sight of by the Americans. Besides, Pakistan has been the training ground for terrorists who took part in many terror attacks internationally, including the ill-famed World Trade Centre attack in New York. Reining in these terror groups would surely be in US interests too.