Washington – IS-Khorasan in Afghanistan poses a threat to the US security. IS terrorists could launch an attack on the United States in the next six months. The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Colin Kahl, issued a serious warning that the Al Qaeda terrorists collaborating with the Taliban could target US interests within a year. Moreover, it is unclear whether the Taliban can fight against IS, Kahl added. Criticism is building up that the Biden administration handed the country to terrorists with a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan. Hence, the US has become insecure. Against this backdrop, Kahl’s claims tend to increase pressure on the Biden administration.
Moreover, President Joe Biden stated that Al Qaeda, which carried out the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US, was bought to an end. Thus, he had justified the military withdrawal in Afghanistan. Whereas, the US Defense Chief, Mark Milley, had also claimed that the threat of a terrorist attack from Afghanistan was low. General Mark Milley had said that the danger was not very serious compared to 9/11. However, the information provided by Kahl, the Pentagon’s Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, contradicts these claims.
‘We have considerable evidence that IS-Khorasan (ISIS-K) and Al-Qaeda have the intent to attack US and US interests outside Afghanistan,’ Kahl said in a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. ‘We see that ISIS-K may potentially develop the capability in somewhere between six or 12 months. Also, Al-Qaeda would regenerate the capability to carry out attacks outside of Afghanistan against the United States in a year or two,’ claimed Kahl. Senior Pentagon officials have questioned the capabilities of Taliban’s that has extablished a regime in Afghanistan.
‘It is our assessment that the Taliban and ISIS-K are mortal enemies. So the Taliban is highly motivated to go after ISIS-K. Their ability to do so, I think, is to be determined,’ Kahl added. Besides, he also expressed concern over cooperation between the Taliban and Al Qaeda. It could take Al Qaeda one to two years to launch an attack on the US, but before that, Kahl hinted at the necessity of taking action against IS and Al Qaeda.
Further, he confessed to the Senate that 439 US citizens were still trapped in Afghanistan. The Biden administration had claimed safe evacuation of US citizens trapped in Afghanistan. But Kahl’s data invites new criticism on the Biden administration.
Meanwhile, a few hours ago, senior US Senator Lindsey Graham had said, ‘Taliban’s denial of cooperating with the US to control Al Qaeda is war announcement.’ Former US Ambassador to the UN Khalilzad told that Al Qaeda’s Chief Ayman al-Zawahiri could be in Afghanistan. ‘Will the US launch airstrikes in Afghanistan to end the Al Qaeda threat?’ This question is being consistently asked to the Biden administration.
In response, Kahl said that the US is conducting drone surveillance in Afghanistan by utilizing Pakistani airspace. Kahl said that the US set a message for Pakistan to continue keeping its airspace open.
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