05 May 2016•Update: 06 May 2016
WASHINGTON
Al-Qaeda has improved ties with the Taliban in Afghanistan in recent months a U.S. general said Thursday.
The stronger relations could bolster the Taliban’s fight against Afghan government.
"But because we think that al-Qaeda is beginning to work more with Taliban, they can present a bit of an accelerant for the Taliban. They can provide capabilities and skills and those types of things," said Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, a spokesman for the NATO-led Resolute Support mission.
Cleveland’s comments came during a videoconference from Kabul with Pentagon reporters in Washington DC.
Noting the head of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri’s allegiance to the new leader of the Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, last fall, the spokesman said interaction between the two militant groups has increased.
Cleveland estimated that there were 100 - 300 members of al-Qaeda in the country.
"Although they have been significantly diminished, they do have the ability to regenerate very quickly, and they still do have the ability to pose a threat," he said.
According to the general, Daesh still is believed to have 1,000 - 3,000 fighters while the Taliban has 30,000 fighters in the war-torn country.
The U.S.-NATO coalition has around 13,000 international troops, including 9,800 Americans, in Afghanistan.
According to the Pentagon, the U.S. has two main missions, including training and assisting Afghan forces as they take on the insurgency and, a unilateral counterterrorism mission.
Cleveland said around 3,000 U.S. troops are engaged in counterterrorism operations against the Taliban, al-Qaeda and Daesh.
Since the beginning of the year, the U.S. has conducted more than 100 airstrikes on Daesh and al Qaeda, 19 of which were in April.
Despite a decade-long U.S. invasion in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, U.S. defense officials have recently acknowledged to Congress that the security situation in Afghanistan remains dire.
