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The Pentagon warns: ISIS in Afghanistan could attack the United States within six months
A senior Defense Department official said at a congressional hearing that the terrorist-producing organization could attack the United States in the coming months - and intends to do so.
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ISIS
United States
Afghanistan
Reuters
Wednesday, October 27, 2021, 11:00 p.m.
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In the video: A US general testifies in the Senate that he advised the president to leave a force of 2,500 people in Afghanistan (Photo: Reuters)
A senior Pentagon official told Congress yesterday (Tuesday) that US intelligence estimates that ISIS in Afghanistan will have the ability to attack the United States in just six months - and has the intention to do so.
"The intelligence community estimates that both the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan and al-Qaeda have intentions to conduct foreign operations, including against the United States, but none of them currently have the capability to do so. We can see ISIS producing that capability within six to 12 months," he said. Said Colin Cahl, Deputy Secretary of Defense for Policy Issues.
His warning is another reminder that Afghanistan could still be a source of significant concern for US security, even after the two-decade war ended in defeat in August.
The Taliban, which has won the war and recaptured the country, and ISIS are bitter enemies.
ISIS has sabotaged Taliban attempts to impose its rule in Afghanistan after the withdrawal, with a string of deadly suicide bombings and various attacks.
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In a hearing convened by the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kahel said it was still unclear whether the Taliban had the ability to fight ISIS effectively after the withdrawal of US forces, which had fought in the Taliban and other terrorist organizations such as ISIS and al-Qaeda.
"Our assessment is that the Taliban and ISIS are sworn enemies. So the Taliban have a high motivation to pursue ISIS. Their ability to do so, I think, has not yet been clarified," Kahal said. He estimates that ISIS has several thousand fighters.
Kahl explained that al-Qaeda in Afghanistan is a more complex issue, given its ties to the Taliban. The ties led the United States to invade Afghanistan in 2001 following the September 11 attacks in New York, Washington. The Taliban then sheltered al-Qaeda leaders. Terrorist attacks outside Afghanistan against the United States.
Washington wants to place troops in Afghanistan's neighbors. Pentagon official Colin Cahl at a hearing yesterday (Photo: Reuters)
President Joe Biden, who was hit by the chaotic summer recession in the polls, promised that the United States would continue to act against threats from Afghanistan through intelligence gathering operations in the country to identify terrorist threats.
Kahl said during the congressional hearing that the goal was to undermine the capabilities of ISIS and al-Qaeda so that they would not be able to harm the United States.
"We need to be vigilant in thwarting this," he said.
Despite this, US officials warn in closed talks that thwarting terrorist plots in Afghanistan is a particularly difficult task due to the lack of a military presence in the country.
United States operates drones in the Gulf states to harm terror targets in the region, and is trying to persuade Afghanistan's neighbors to allow it to deploy forces on the territory. Kahl said that at this stage there is no such agreement.
Amir Khan Mottaki, foreign minister in the Taliban government, said that the organization will deal with the threat ISIS also said Afghanistan would not become a base for attacks on other countries.
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