Even before President Trump made his late-August speech announcing the escalation of the Afghan War, the war has been dramatically escalating by several metrics. Today, Central Command issued new figures underscoring that with respect to airstrikes.

In the month of August, the US Air Force dropped more than 500 bombs in Afghanistan in the month of August, which officials were quick to note was the single highest month of bombs dropped in five years, going all the way back to 2012.

It’s also the biggest of the year, obviously, but 2017 in general has been a massive escalation, with over 2,000 bombs dropped this year, which is already more than double the entirety of 2016, with four more months to go.

US pilots in Afghanistan have said that they expect an increase in activity throughout the rest of the year, with more troops coming to the country, and with more territory falling to the Taliban, it’s likely that the US will rely increasingly on airstrikes to try to slow the rate of loss.