General Kenneth McKenzie, Commander of US Central Command, while speaking at Pentagon briefing, warned that after the US departure from Afghanistan the regrouping of al Qaeda and Islamic State (IS) militants will be “the biggest concern”, Pakistan’s Dawn news reported as quoting a Pentagon transcript.
Gen McKenzie, who heads the US Central Command (Centcom), has said that the al Qaeda and IS militants would be able to “regenerate” if pressure was not kept on them.
The Pentagon has said that Gen. McKenzie was working on a detailed counter-terrorism plan.
“I’m actually conducting detailed planning, by the direction of the secretary, to look at those options right now. I will report back to him by the end of the month with some alternatives,” he said as quoted.
The US pullout did not mean that America would be at the mercy of the groups like IS and al Qaeda or the Taliban if they wanted to create problems and threaten American’s interest, McKenzie said.
The Biden administration announced that the US would pull out all American forces from Afghanistan by September 11, which marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US.
This is not the first time senior US military generals warn against militants’ likely regrouping. Earlier a top US commander in Afghanistan warned that a full US withdrawal would allow al Qaeda to regroup in the country.
