KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the Taliban’s lack of full control over Afghanistan’s territory provides opportunities for terrorist groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda to operate.
During an interview with American journalist Catherine Herridge on Thursday, Rubio said that the U.S. no longer has a physical presence in Afghanistan to directly target terrorist groups.
“I think anytime you have contested governing spaces, where a government doesn’t have full control over all of its territory, it creates opportunities for these groups,” Rubio said.
He noted that the Taliban has not been consistent in targeting and eliminating ISIS or al-Qaeda. “In some cases, the Taliban’s been cooperative when we – when they’ve been told ISIS or al-Qaida is operating in this part of your country, go after them. In other cases, not so much,” he added.
The U.S. top diplomat also said that he would not compare the current situation in Afghanistan to the period before the September 11 attacks, arguing that the threat is no longer confined to Afghanistan alone. He pointed to Syria as a major concern, where 8,000 ISIS members remain imprisoned, warning that their release could pose a significant security threat.
The Taliban has yet to respond to Rubio’s remarks. However, they have repeatedly claimed full control over Afghanistan and denied the presence of terrorist groups in the country.
Rubio’s comments come just days after a UN report stated that al-Qaeda continues to find shelter in Afghanistan “under the protection of the Taliban’s intelligence agency.”
“The Taliban maintained a permissive environment allowing al-Qaida to consolidate, with the presence of safe houses and training camps scattered across Afghanistan,” the report said.
The UN report also described ISIS’s regional affiliate, ISKP, as “the greatest extra-regional terrorist threat,” warning of its potential to destabilize the region and launch attacks beyond Afghanistan’s borders.
