Pentagon says violence is on rise in Afghanistan

The report says the decision to leave the current number of troops – 9,800 – in the country through 2016 gives USA forces the ability to both assist Afghan forces and support “counterterrorism operations against the remnants of al Qaeda and its associates”.

He said there were also “indications” that the IS supporters in Nangarhar were trying to consolidate links with the group’s leadership in Syria and Iraq.

The Islamic State group controls about a third of Iraq and Syria.

According to Afghan officials, ISIS supporters maintain control of several districts in the province and are also present in some southern provinces. The offshoot’s presence in Afghanistan represents another unstable area where the group is trying to establish a foothold. The crippling illness could moreover be eradicated completely by the complete of next yr if kids can be protected where they have been previously deemed too risky or troublesome to reach. I’m sure there are folks who have come from Syria and Iraq – I couldn’t tell you how many but there are indications of some foreign fighters coming in there.

Campbell stressed that “they don’t have the capability right now to attack Europe, or attack the homeland, the United States. But that’s what they want to do, they’ve said that’s what they want to do”, he said. Please see our terms of service for more information.

The U.S. Defense Department said Tuesday that security in Afghanistan has been deteriorating over recent months.

The biggest setback during the period covered by the Pentagon report was the Taliban’s brief takeover of the northern city of Kunduz, which Afghan forces abandoned abruptly in late September but recaptured several days later with US military help. “If the Taliban and ISIL want to kill each other, let them do it”, he said, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State group. It did not estimate how many al-Qaida fighters are in the country.

Violence in Afghanistan is on the rise, according to a new Pentagon report to Congress that says the Taliban was emboldened by the reduced USA military role and are likely to try to build momentum from their 2015 attack strategy.

The southern province of Helmand, however, retained its title as leader in growth of opium, which is used to produce highly addictive heroin. It said Kabul’s forces have demonstrated a will to fight, but that the country’s security is fragile in some regions and deteriorating in others. Jalalabad, he said, “is not going to fall”.