Al-Qaeda rebuilds in Afghanistan since US troops' withdrawal in August: Official

A top US commander claimed on Thursday, December 9, that the al-Qaeda terrorist group has grown in Afghanistan since the American forces left the country in the month of August. Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of US Central Command, said that now the Taliban-led government is undecided on whether to keep their 2020 commitment to break relations with the group or not, the Associated Press (AP) reported. With the withdrawal of US military and intelligence forces from Afghanistan, it has become much more difficult to trace al-Qaida and other extremist groups within the country, he remarked while peaking at the Pentagon. 

"We are probably at about 1 or 2% of the capabilities we once had to look into Afghanistan. This makes it very hard, if not impossible, to ensure that neither al-Qaeda nor the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate can pose a threat to the United States," Gen. McKenzie was quoted by the AP as saying. He further claimed that al-Qaida is clearly striving to reconstitute its foothold within Afghanistan, a base from where that  9/11 attack was planned. Some extremists are entering the country through its porous borders, but tracking their numbers is difficult for the US, he added.

Prior to the US' withdrawal, Gen McKenzie and other senior US military and national security officials had warned that it would make it more difficult to contain the al-Qaeda threat, due to the loss of on-the-ground intelligence and the lack of a US-friendly government in Kabul. To respond to any terrorist threats to the US homeland, the US says it will rely on attacks from drones and other aircraft based outside of Afghanistan's borders. According to McKenzie, no such strikes have been carried out since the US withdrew from Afghanistan on August 30. He went on to say that America's ability to carry out such strikes is dependent on intelligence, overhead imaging, and other information and communications.

Al-Qaida still desires to strike the US: Gen Frank McKenzie

It is pertinent to mention here that al-Qaida is one of many terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan. Although it lost most of its numbers and ability to directly attack US territory after 2001, Gen McKenzie claimed the militant group still has an "aspirational yearning" to strike the US. During their first term in power in Kabul, from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban provided safe harbour to al-Qaida and refused to comply with Washington's demand that the group be expelled and its leader, Osama bin Laden, be handed up. Since then, the Taliban and al-Qaida have reportedly maintained close connections. "So we are still trying to sort out exactly how the Taliban is going to proceed against them, and I think over the month or two it will become a little more apparent to us," Gen McKenzie concluded.

(With AP inputs)

Image: Twitter/@NajibullahAzad/AP/Representative