U.S. conducts airstrike in fallen Afghan city of Kunduz

The U.S. military carried out an airstrike Tuesday morning on the Afghan city of Kunduz as Afghan forces attempt to take back the city that was overrun by Taliban fighters one day prior.

Multiple media outlets report that Col. Brian Tribus, a spokesman for the U.S. and NATO missions in Afghanistan, confirmed the airstrike, saying it was done “in order to eliminate a threat to the force.”

{mosads}Additionally, Afghan forces have begun a counter-offensive, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told his country in a televised address.

On Monday, the northern Afghan provincial capital of Kunduz fell to the Taliban after months of stalemate.

GOP lawmakers were swift in their response to the news, criticizing President Obama for drawing down U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

“It is time that President Obama abandon this dangerous and arbitrary course and adopt a plan for U.S. troop presence based on conditions on the ground,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a written statement.

Both McCain and Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, compared the fall Kunduz to the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“The fall of Kunduz to the Taliban is not unlike the fall of Iraqi provinces to ISIL,” Thornberry said in a written statement, using an alternative name for ISIS. “It is a reaffirmation that precipitous withdrawal leaves key allies and territory vulnerable to the very terrorists we’ve fought so long to defeat.”