Story highlights US aircraft dropped 653 bombs, missiles and other munitions in Afghanistan during the month of October

That is the highest number of munitions dropped since the Air Force began publishing data in 2012

(CNN) The US military has substantially increased the number of airstrikes it has conducted in Afghanistan even as the number of strikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria has begun to decrease as the terror group loses more and more territory, thereby reducing the number of available targets.

US aircraft dropped 653 bombs, missiles and other munitions on Taliban and local ISIS targets in Afghanistan during the month of October, compared to 203 in the same month last year, according to the US Air Forces Central Command which oversees US aircraft in the region.

That is the highest number of munitions dropped since the Air Force began publishing data in 2012. At that time, the US maintained over 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, many in direct combat roles, compared to 14,000 today.

US airstrikes dropped dramatically during the final years of the Obama administration as more restrictive rules governing which enemy forces could be targeted were enacted. The US military was allowed to strike ISIS and al Qaeda, but could only target the Taliban under certain specific circumstances.

President Donald Trump removed these restrictions as part of his new strategy for Afghanistan and the wider region, allowing the US military to target Taliban forces anywhere they were found.

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