WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES – The US House Foreign Affairs Committee says that after the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan, the country became a safe haven for terrorist groups that threaten the entire world.
In a statement on X on Friday, August 16, marking the third anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power, the committee said that over the past three years, the regime has transformed Afghanistan into a safe haven for terrorists.
The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan three years ago has heightened global security concerns due to the resurgence of terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS-K, which pose a significant threat to international stability.
Although the Taliban claims to uphold the Doha agreement signed with the US in 2020 and to prevent Afghanistan from posing a threat to other countries, numerous reports, including those from the UN, indicate the regime’s inability to counter the terrorism threat effectively.
Over the past three years, ISIS-K has used Afghanistan to become the most capable branch of the ISIS terror organization.
According to newly released statistics from the Afghanistan Security Watch (ASW), an organization that monitors the security situation in Afghanistan, ISIS-K has carried out at least 62 attacks in the country since the Taliban’s takeover.
According to the ASW’s report, ISIS-K targeted civilians, particularly ethnic and religious minorities such as Hazara-Shias and Sufis, as well as Taliban members and foreign nationals, killing 857 people and injuring 1,575 others.
The US house committee also criticized the Biden administration for its “disastrous” withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“When the Biden-Harris administration withdrew from Afghanistan – with no assurances the Taliban would respect American conditions set under the Doha Agreement – it sent an entire generation of liberated Afghans back to the dark days of Taliban rule,” the committee said.
“Our Afghan allies are being hunted and killed, and women cannot leave the house without a male escort. Girls cannot get an education above the sixth grade,” it added.
The committee further stated that the manner in which the withdrawal was conducted by the Biden administration “dishonored” decades of sacrifice made by US veterans and Gold Star families.
“The Biden-Harris administration must be made accountable for its disastrous withdrawal,” the committee emphasized.
The Republican-led Congress has repeatedly criticized the Biden administration for its handling of Afghanistan, particularly the chaotic troop withdrawal in August 2021, which led to the swift collapse of the republic government.
During the withdrawal, a suicide bombing at Kabul Airport on August 26 killed 13 U.S. service members and over 170 civilians. The regional affiliate of the Islamic State, ISKP, later claimed responsibility for the attack.
The US House Foreign Affairs Committee stated that instead of effectively targeting terrorists, Biden’s policies resulted in an ISIS-K suicide bombing, and now the same terrorist groups are flourishing in Afghanistan.
