‘I see a drone, I remove my SIM card’: Afghan villagers live in constant fear of US airstrikes

‘Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province has been one of the hardest hit by US airstrikes, which target Islamist militants but also hit civilians. In a video by RT’s Ruptly agency, locals shared what it was like to live under the constant risk of being bombed.
As a stronghold of both the Taliban and the emerging presence of the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorist group, Nangarhar province saw 358 airstrikes by US forces in July alone – half of all the airstrikes in Afghanistan over the month. On August 11, the Afghan government said that at least 16 civilians, including women and children, had been killed in one bombing in the Haska Meena district, which the US military claimed was targeting militants.
In a new Ruptly video, villagers describe being in a state of constant anxiety because of the air raids.
“US jets fly over and patrol anytime, therefore civilians are living in fear and turn off their mobiles and remove their SIM cards. They break their SIM cards and buy another one,” a man from the village of Basakhel said. “Now people are trying to not use their phones.”’

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