A top US military official expressed concerns about Daesh in Afghanistan, saying the US is still "sorting out what is going to happen" since the Islamic Emirate came into power.
The US Central Command (Centcom) chief Gen. Kenneth McKenzie made the remarks in an interview shared on Facebook by the US Central Command - Dari/Pashto.
The Afghan Defense Ministry denied reports over the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan.
"ISIS... concerns us in Afghanistan," McKenzie said. "...We know that the Taliban are no friends, particularly of ISIS and in fact over the past couple of years, they have occasionally under-taken operations against ISIS."
"I think... what we see developing in Afghanistan is ungoverned and under-governed spaces which are areas were ISIS traditionally flourished and... I think there is a risk, we know that ISIS does in fact have ... a desire to carry out external attacks-attacks against the United States-- the homeland of the United States and attacks against the homeland of our neighbors in Europe... and other places. So, I am concerned by what is happening in Afghanistan," he said.
The Secretary-General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Stanislav Zas, warned that the remergence of foreign terrorist groups including al-Qaeda and Daesh are not only a threat to Afghanistan but to the whole region.
"We pay in our work particular attention to our southern borders. Afghanistan remains a long-term ongoing source of danger, given the unfolding socio-economic and humanitarian disaster stemming from the country, as well as the terrorist threat and the risk of drug trafficking. That is all increasing," he said.
The Ministry of Defense denied the remarks made about the presence of Daesh and al-Qaeda groups in Afghanistan.
"We deny these reports. We assure all the people that the security forces of the Islamic Emirate are ready to fight the terrorists. There is no terrorists in Afghanistan," said Inayatullah Khwarazami, a spokesman for the ministry.
But why are concerns over the activation of Daesh in Afghanistan is rising?
The analysts give their opinions as:
"Daesh is indeed an American project that it wants to bring into effect, said Hekmatullah Hekmat, a military veteran.
"Daesh has no active presence in Afghanistan. This propaganda spread by the US shows the US and other countries are trying to create a gap between the people and the current government," said Abdul Rahman Mohammad, a military analyst.
Based on the Doha agreement signed between the Islamic Emirate and Washington on February 29th, 2020, the Islamic Emirate is committed to cutting ties with all terrorist groups in the region.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/26860
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