The U.S. military has been covertly aiding the Taliban in Afghanistan in its clashes with ISIS, The Washington Post reports, even as President Trump claimed publicly his administration was hitting the Taliban “harder than they have ever been hit before.” Using Reaper drones and a sprawling intelligence complex long familiar with monitoring Afghan guerrilla activity, Special Operations forces tracked Taliban communications and movements, then covertly planned airstrikes that would help the group’s efforts to combat the Islamic State. Within the Joint Special Operations Command, the operation was jokingly called the “Taliban Air Force.”

The strategy may foreshadow the future of U.S. military involvement in the region as it removes ground troops while maintaining a mission to fight both the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. “I can understand a certain distaste for doing it,” retired general Joseph Votel said. “But if you buy into the overall strategy of bringing the Afghan government and the Taliban into reconciliation while maintaining pressure on international terrorist groups, it’s the kind of thing that needs to happen.”