A US general vows to continue airstrikes in support of Afghan troops fighting the Taliban

(CNN) – The United States will continue airstrikes in support of Afghan forces fighting the Taliban, a senior US general said Sunday.

Violence has soared in Afghanistan in recent months after the Taliban launched an assault across the country just days after US-led foreign forces began their final withdrawal.

Speaking to the press in Kabul on Sunday, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of the US Central Command, said: “The United States has increased airstrikes in support of Afghan forces in recent days, and we are prepared to continue this increased level of support in the coming weeks if the Taliban continue their attacks. “

Taliban victory in Afghanistan “not inevitable”

McKenzie acknowledged that the Afghan government will face difficult days.

“The Taliban are trying to create a sense of inevitability in their campaign. They are wrong,” he said. “The victory of the Taliban is not inevitable,” he said, adding that the US military will continue to provide logistical support to the Afghan Air Force even after foreign forces leave the country on August 31, as expected.

“We will continue to support the Afghan forces even after that date of August 31, generally it will be from outside the territory,” McKenzie said.

The US Army carried out two attacks on Taliban targets on Thursday in support of Afghan forces in Kandahar province, several defense officials said.

Three of the last four US attacks targeted captured material, a defense official said. These are US equipment transferred to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, which the Taliban captured on their advance through the country.

Taliban warn of “consequences” after attacks

The airstrikes come amid increased pressure from the Taliban to seize territory and a parallel attempt to revive diplomatic efforts to achieve a negotiated end to the war. A Taliban spokesman on Friday condemned the US airstrikes in Kandahar and Helmand provinces as “barbaric attacks” that “will have consequences.” The spokesman said: “The Islamic Emirate condemns these barbaric attacks in the strongest terms.”

McKenzie pledged Sunday to support the Afghan Air Force in the future, and said the US Air Force will also maintain the ability to “strike in Afghanistan” against two other groups, ISIS and al Qaeda.

The head of the Central Command said that in the next “days and weeks” it will be known whether the Afghan government will be able to defend the country from the Taliban.

He added: “I don’t think it’s going to be an easy road … [pero] I don’t accept the narrative that there is necessarily going to be a civil war. “

On Sunday, fighting continued on the outskirts of Kandahar. According to AFP reports, McKenzie acknowledged that the US Air Force had carried out air strikes in the province in recent days. Kandahar, with 650,000 inhabitants, is the second largest city in Afghanistan after Kabul.