Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate, in response to recent statements from the US Departments of Defense and State, said that no terrorist group is present in Afghanistan.
Fitrat said that Daesh (ISIS) has been suppressed in the country, and the Islamic Emirate will not allow anyone to use Afghan soil against other countries.
The deputy spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate told TOLOnews: “We consider all concerns in this regard baseless, and we reject such claims that there is a threat to other countries from Afghanistan. No foreign group is active in Afghanistan, and the Islamic Emirate will not allow anyone to create threats to other countries using Afghan soil.”
Earlier, Matthew Miller, the spokesperson for the US Department of State, expressed concerns about threats originating from Afghanistan, saying that the normalization of Washington’s relations with Kabul is conditional on changes in the interim government’s approach to human rights.
Miller said: “So our most critical interest when it comes to Afghanistan has been and will continue to be that the country can never again be a launching pad for terrorist attacks against the United States, and we continue to remain incredibly vigilant against any terrorist threats directed at the United States and its allies. We – so I would say for the – that when I say human rights are at the forefront of our engagement with the Taliban, that especially includes the rights of women and girls who continue to be oppressed by the Taliban. We make sure that any significant steps toward normalization of relations are contingent upon profound improvements in their treatment of women and girls, including but not limited to allowing women and girls back in school and lifting the restrictions on women’s employment.”
At the same time, the deputy spokesperson for the US Department of Defense also expressed concerns about al-Qaeda’s threats in the region and Afghanistan.
Sabrina Singh, the deputy Pentagon spokeswoman, said: “We certainly take it seriously. We retain incredible capability in the region, which as you mentioned include over-the-horizon capabilities.”
Meanwhile, Andrew Korybko, an expert at the Russian Institute For Strategic Studies told the Media Line website that Russia, by removing the Afghan interim government from its blacklist, is seeking to expand military and intelligence cooperation with the interim government and jointly combat Daesh.