The Afghan Taliban have ramped up attacks in the country, with violence rising after US President Joe Biden\u2019s announcement of the withdrawal of all American troops by Sept. 11, the head of Afghanistan\u2019s intelligence agency said on Tuesday.
\n\u201cThe Taliban have increased their activities by 24 percent following the deal with the United States of America, and their attacks are at their peak since the announcement of the troop withdrawal by Mr. Joe Biden,\u201d Ahmad Zia Saraj said during a press conference in Kabul.
\nHe accused the Taliban of maintaining close ties with Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, which breached a key part of the controversial deal they signed with the US in Doha, Qatar, more than a year ago.
\n\u201cDespite the commitment they made in the deal \u2026 we see no sign showing the Taliban have distanced themselves from Al-Qaeda.
\nOn the contrary, we have sufficient proof that they are aiding Al-Qaeda to bring together again in Afghanistan those of its members who are in hiding in the region,\u201d Saraj said.
\nThe Qatar accord paved the way for the total exit of all US-led foreign troops from Afghanistan after months of intensive talks between the Taliban and the Trump administration, which excluded President Ashraf Ghani\u2019s government.
\nEarlier this month, President Biden said that all US combat troops would leave Afghanistan by Sept. 11, instead of May 1, ending America\u2019s longest war.
\nThe removal of approximately 3,000 American troops coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, which led to the Taliban\u2019s ouster in a US-led invasion the same year.
\nPresident Ghani said he respected the US decision to withdraw its forces, adding that Afghanistan\u2019s military was \u201cfully capable of defending its people and country.\u201d
\nSaraj said that Kabul had no plans to free thousands of Taliban prisoners \u2013 as demanded by the insurgent group for the signing of the Qatar accord \u2013 as \u201cmany\u201d of the 5,000 prisoners already released by the Afghan government \u201chad returned to the battlefield.\u201d
\n\u201cTherefore, there isn\u2019t any reason to release more Taliban prisoners. As a future strategy amid the departure of foreign troops, the government will concentrate on securing highways,\u201d he said.
\nHe said that with the arrests of more than 500 Daesh affiliates in recent months, which included dozens of children and women, the Afghan government had decimated the threat posed by the network in the region.
\n\u201cThey are now confined to small groups in cities and are trying to re-emerge and gain control of a geography which they can use, but we have reduced their ability for operating,\u201d Saraj said.
\n\u201cThey are no longer the threat they used to be for the region \u2026 if, God forbid, we cannot manage [to crush them entirely] and other countries do not cooperate with us, then there is a possibility that they can turn themselves into a regional threat,\u201d he said, adding that the Taliban had close \u201coperational ties with Daesh,\u201d too.
\nIn comments to Arab News on Tuesday, Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, denied Saraj\u2019s allegations, saying that Kabul was merely \u201ccreating anxiety in the world, so it can persuade the occupying forces to keep its troops there further.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Afghan Taliban have ramped up attacks in the country, with violence rising after US President Joe Biden\u2019s announcement of the withdrawal of all American troops by Sept. 11, the head of Afghanistan\u2019s intelligence agency said on Tuesday. \u201cThe Taliban have increased their activities by 24 percent following the deal with the United States of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-189010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n