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.
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.
