Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has pledged allegiance to new Afghan Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, a low-profile religious figure whose predecessor was killed in a United States drone strike. The comments were seen by some as an attempt to forestall growing ISIS influence in Afghanistan by publicly aligning with their chief rival.
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Earlier this week, senior US and defense officials told the Associated Press the White House approved plans to expand the military’s authority to conduct airstrikes against the Taliban when necessary as the violence in Afghanistan begins to escalate. Their recruitment aims to take away Islamists that usually would join the Taliban, and they have fought against the Taliban over territory on several occasions.
The broader role granted to the USA military will allow them to accompany Afghan forces and assist them more proactively on the battlefield.
He added that the jihadist group was “sad” over Mansour’s death, and praised the late leader for fighting against the “Russian and Christian crusaders” and for “dying a martyr after a long history of jihad”.
The 9,800 US troops still in Afghanistan, however, would still not be involved in direct combat.
He said 15 of the assailants were also killed and seven more injured in the exchange of fire that followed. But strikes against the Taliban were largely halted at the end of 2014, when the USA -led coalition’s combat role ended.
The Taliban remain a major threat in Afghanistan. Officials said the decision comes in an effort to strike the Taliban and offer improved support to the Afghan forces when needed in critical operations. Al-Qaida has 100-300 affiliates and Islamic State has 1,000-3,000 members, according to a U.S. Congressional Research Service report.
The group’s leader, Mullah Akhar Mohammad Mansour, was killed by a US airstrike in Pakistan last month.
The Taliban have a greater presence in Afghanistan than other militant groups, with as many as 25,000 fighters.
The Taliban’s atrocities continue unabated in the war-torn even as Afghanistan has hailed Washington’s decision to expand the U.S. military’s authority to tackle a resurgent Taliban insurgency.
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“The president made a decision to enable the commander there to have some additional authority to act proactively – that is to anticipate situations in which the Afghan security forces would benefit from our support… rather than be simply reactive”, Carter said Friday in Washington, D.C. According to another defense official, orders are now being drafted to lay out the guidelines for the new authorities regarding rules of engagement and to what extent US forces would be inserted to accompany the Afghan forces.
