The United States could work with the Taliban to combat the terrorist threat posed by IS-K in Afghanistan, said General Mark Miley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
According to a report by Politico, during a Pentagon press conference with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Thursday, General Mark Miley initially described the Taliban as a “ruthless group” and said the US is waiting to see “whether or not they change”.
Regarding the recent coordination of the Pentagon with the Taliban at Kabul airport, the US official said: “In war you do what you have to do to reduce the risk.”
But when General Mark Miley was asked again whether the US would continue its relationship with the Taliban to counter the terrorist threats posed by IS-K, General Mark Miley paused and replied, “It is possible.”
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General Mark Miley, however, was cut short when Lloyd Austin stepped in to soften his remark. Although the Secretary of Defense extended the general’s testimony about the US attempt to thwart the ISIS-K threat, he said nothing about possible cooperation with the Taliban.
“If I go forward again, I don’t want to make predictions. I would tell you that we will do everything in our power to ensure that we continue to focus on ISIS-K, understand this network, and hold them accountable for what they have done at the time of our future election said Lloyd Austin.
At the beginning of the press conference, the secretary had said: “We were working with the Taliban on a very narrow set of issues, and that was exactly that – to get as many people as possible out of logic leaps on broader issues.”
“With regard to the Taliban, it is difficult to predict where this will lead in the future,” he added.
ISIS-K, a regional offshoot of the Islamic State (IS), was responsible for a series of explosions at Kabul airport 13 US soldiers were killed and 18 others injured last week. Retribution, the USA had launched several air strikes the killed two members of the terrorist group.
Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden said: “We will continue the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan and other countries.”
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