The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, Michael McCaul, has criticised President Joe Biden’s recent statement regarding the absence of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and the US receiving help from the Taliban.
In a statement on Friday, McCaul referred to Biden’s remarks as an attempt to whitewash the Taliban and al Qaeda’s longstanding ties and said it may even be an attempt to get the US on the path of recognizing the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan.
“That is something I will do everything in my power to oppose,” McCaul stressed.
“It is completely divorced from reality for President Biden to claim that al Qaeda is no longer operating in Afghanistan or that the Taliban has somehow become our national security partner in the region,” he added.
Biden’s statement comes after a report by the UN Security Council found that the Taliban funded Al-Qaeda fighters on a monthly basis, use their training manuals and instructions; and that Al-Qaeda has established training camps all over Afghanistan.
In his statement, McCaul highlighted that the report from the UN Sanctions Monitoring Team contradicts President Biden’s claims, revealing that the relationship between the Taliban and Al-Qaeda remained close and symbiotic with Al-Qaeda viewing Taliban-controlled Afghanistan as their safe haven.
