The U.S. Air Force has confirmed that it deployed two additional B-52H Stratofortress strategic bombers to Qatar to protect the orderly and responsible withdrawal of U.S. and coalition forces from Afghanistan.
According to a recent service news release, two additional B-52H Stratofortress aircraft assigned to the 5th Bomb Wing, Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, arrived May 4, 2021, at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.
A pair of B-52H Stratofortress, joining the four B-52 aircraft that arrived in late April, is deployed to the U. S. Central Command region to protect U.S. and coalition forces as they conduct drawdown operations from Afghanistan.
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As BBC previously reported, the U.S. has started formally withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, beginning the end of what President Joe Biden called “the forever war”.
The US and Nato have had a presence in Afghanistan for almost 20 years.
But the withdrawal, which runs until 11 September, comes amid escalating violence, with Afghan security forces on high alert for reprisal attacks.