The Washington Post looks at U.S. participation in the Afghanistan government’s efforts to reclaim the city of Kunduz from the Taliban.  

“The showdowns took shape before dawn — less than 24 hours after Taliban militiamen stormed into Kunduz — as Afghan reinforcements poured into the area after a U.S. airstrike helped clear the way. The fight to reclaim Kunduz — Afghanistan’s sixth-largest city and a strategic gateway to Central Asia — serves as one of the Afghan military’s biggest tests in the 14-year-long war against the Taliban insurgency and raised questions about the withdrawal timetable for U.S. and other coalition troops.”  

“A spokesman for the international military coalition in Afghanistan said the U.S. air attack sought to ‘eliminate a threat to the force.’ Coalition officials did not specify the target or whether the airstrikes will be followed up by others… The U.S. military still has 9,800 troops in Afghanistan, but it was unclear whether any American personnel were stationed near Kunduz, about 150 miles north of Kabul.”