A senior US general has warned that the Taliban have not severed ties with al-Qaeda and said that the presence of al-Qaeda and ISIS in Afghanistan has now become a major challenge for the United States.
Michael Kurilla, who was recently appointed by the White House as commander of the US Central Command, said in a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee that was set up to approve him. “Al Qaeda and ISIS are re-emerging. They hope to strike on American soil, but are not yet able to do so.”
The senior US military official said the Taliban had not severed ties with al-Qaeda and said that with the release of ISIS fighters from Afghan prisons after the Taliban took power, ISIS was now re-emerging.
Taliban deputy spokesman Bilal Karimi told VOA he denied the US official’s allegations about the Taliban’s links to al-Qaeda, saying there was no “physical” presence in Afghanistan. He said the Taliban would not allow any movement or group to pose a threat to any country from Afghanistan.
Gen. Kurilla told U.S. attorneys on Tuesday, Feb. 8, that for a successful counterterrorism operation in Afghanistan, U.S. military leaders must use more intelligence capabilities, particularly in intelligence gathering.
Michael Kurilla, referring to the distance between Afghanistan and the nearest US military base in the region, said that monitoring Afghanistan from a distance is “very difficult” but not impossible. He said US officials are in talks with countries around Afghanistan to establish air bases, but added that no agreement had been reached.
Following the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in August last year, members of Congress sought to monitor Afghanistan and, if necessary, to eliminate terrorist threats to the United States, which may include the Taliban. Occupy under authority, expresses concern.
Members of Congress, while announcing their support for General Corella, questioned the effectiveness of US Central Command’s ability to deal with emerging threats.
General Kurilla said he would continue to work with Pakistan on the border as much as possible. However, relations between Islamabad and Washington have been high and deep over the past two decades. Mr Correla said the two countries still had common interests.
Gen. Kurilla also told U.S. attorneys that the United States has a “moral obligation” to evacuate Afghans who have cooperated with the US government and military over the past two decades in Afghanistan.
The current commander of the US Central Command, Kent McKinsey, who was responsible for overseeing the costly evacuation of US troops from Afghanistan, is due to retire soon, and Michael Kurilla will take over the military post after approval by the US Senate.
