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IS Group Still ‘Serious Threat’ to Afghanistan: US Department of Defense
The Islamic State (IS) group poses a serious threat against the Afghan people and Afghanistan, US Department of Defense said.
Spokesman of US secretary of defense, Peter Cook has deeply concerned over the recent bloody incidents in Afghanistan; citing one of their main plan is to fight against Daesh group.
“Obviously, we’re very concerned about any reports of violence in Afghanistan, whether it’s from Taliban or ISIL in Afghanistan; and concern obviously for the Afghan people in light of this attack. I know that we’ve worked very closely with the Afghan government to look at the threat that ISIL poses in Afghanistan. We’ve taken significant steps in Afghanistan under the leadership of General Nicholson to address the ISIL threat and made significant progress working alongside Afghan forces with regard to that.” Peter Cook said.
Peter Cook has also noted about Washington’s readiness for supporting Afghan forces.
“Although it’s been a difficult fighting season, Afghan forces have been able in a resilient fashion to hold onto district centers, for example. They’ve also been taking the fight to the Taliban, and I think this is a reflection of the kind of capabilities that the Afghan security forces now have in which they’re leaning forward and taking the fight to — they’re leading the effort to secure their own country. I think General Nicholson and the — everyone at Resolute Support is supportive of what the Afghans are doing and we’ll continue to support that effort,” Cook said.
This comes as Pentagon confirmed the Al-Qaeda leader killed in US strikes in Syria which is another blow to the Al-Qaeda group.
“He had ties to terrorist groups operating throughout Southwest Asia, including groups responsible for attacking U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan and those plotting to attack the West,” Cook added, noting that al-Masri’s removal from the battlefield is another blow to al-Qaida in Syria.
The successful airstrike “demonstrates continued U.S. determination to target al-Qaida leaders wherever they pose a threat to the U.S., our allies and interests,” Cook said.
Al-Masri was an Egyptian who joined al-Qaida in Afghanistan and later moved to its Syrian affiliate.
Reported By Nazira Karimi from Washington D.C
Edited by Zack Arya
Former president Hamid Karzai said in a meeting with Iran’s ambassador and special representative, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, that education of girls was a “vital issue” for Afghanistan.
Karzai said he appreciated Iran’s cooperation and its standing with the Afghan people, especially Iran’s contributions to education in Afghanistan.
During the meeting, Karzai said peace and stability in the region are in the interest of all regional countries.
A shipment of humanitarian aid from Uzbekistan was handed over on Thursday to the local officials of Balkh province in the trade port of Hairatan.
Local authorities said the aid, which includes flour, oil, wheat, sugar and meat, has been handed over by Uzbekistan’s Surkhandarya governor to the governor of Balkh.
The governor of Surkhandarya stated the purpose of sending this aid was to support the people of Afghanistan and stressed the need for the development of good relations between the two countries.
Islamabad’s special envoy for Afghanistan Asif Durrani said on Wednesday that Pakistan has suffered more due to Afghanistan’s internal situation than Pakistan has suffered in three wars with India in terms of blood spilt and finances drained.
Durrani said at a one-day International Conference titled “Pakistan in the Emerging Geopolitical Landscape”, which was organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) and the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), that over 80,000 Pakistanis died in the two decades of the War on Terror and that his country was still counting its dead and injured.
“After the withdrawal of NATO forces, it was hoped that peace in Afghanistan would bring peace to the region. However, such expectations were short-lived,” he said.
He also stated that attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group on Pakistan’s border areas increased by 65 percent, while suicide attacks increased by 500 percent.
“The TTP’s enhanced attacks on Pakistan while using Afghan soil have been a serious concern for Pakistan. Another worrying aspect is the participation of Afghan nationals in these attacks,” he said.
Durrani also said Pakistan had suffered geopolitically since the Soviet Union invaded the neighboring country.
“The post-9/11 world order has negatively impacted Pakistan. Apart from losing 80,000 citizens’ lives, including 8,000 law enforcement agency personnel, the country’s economic opportunity cost is estimated at $150 billion,” Durrani said.
Talking about the future outlook for Pakistan in the regional context, Durrani said that while “our eastern neighbor is likely to continue with its anti-Pakistan pursuits, the western border poses an avoidable irritant in the short to medium term.”
However, he said Pakistan can overcome its difficulties with Afghanistan, including the TTP challenge.
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