According to U.S. Central Command U.S. military planes have been striking ground targets in Afghanistan to protect allies. The Taliban is making rapid advances in the vacuum left by the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

“U.S. U.S. forces have conducted numerous airstrikes to defend our Afghan partners in the recent days,” U.S. Air Force Major Nicole Ferrara, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command, stated by email.

She declined to give details about the aircraft involved. The Daily Mail reported that President Joe Biden had ordered B-52 bombers to strike enemy fighters advancing towards Kandahar and other cities. A spokesperson for the National Security Council directed questions to Defense Department.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul on Saturday urged U.S. citizens to leave Afghanistan immediately “using available commercial flight options,” according to a statement on its website that cited “the security conditions and reduced staffing.”

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By August 31, the last U.S. ground troops are expected to be out of Afghanistan. The Taliban has also been busy gaining territory and taking over customs posts at Afghan border crossings, seizing much of the government’s revenue.

The group has steadily expanded its Afghan territory in recent months — controlling half of the country’s 419 districts — and the militants are putting pressure on the provincial capitals, General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on July 22. He said that Afghan security forces have been concentrating around the cities in an attempt to eliminate Taliban fighters.