{"id":63337,"date":"2021-12-10T01:50:36","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T01:50:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/12\/10\/us-commander-al-qaida-numbers-in-afghanistan-up-slightly\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:14:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:14:20","slug":"us-commander-al-qaida-numbers-in-afghanistan-up-slightly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2021\/12\/10\/us-commander-al-qaida-numbers-in-afghanistan-up-slightly\/","title":{"rendered":"US commander: Al-Qaida numbers in Afghanistan up \u2018slightly\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The al-Qaida extremist group has grown slightly inside Afghanistan since U.S. forces left in late August<\/a>, and the country\u2019s new Taliban leaders are divided over whether to fulfill their 2020 pledge to break ties with the group, the top U.S. commander in the region said Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said in an interview with The Associated Press <\/a>that the departure of U.S. military and intelligence assets from Afghanistan has made it much harder to track al-Qaida and other extremist groups inside Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re probably at about 1 or 2 percent of the capabilities we once had to look into Afghanistan,\u201d he said, adding that this makes it \u201cvery hard, not impossible\u201d to ensure that neither al-Qaida nor the Islamic State group\u2019s Afghanistan affiliate can pose a threat to the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at the Pentagon, McKenzie said it\u2019s clear that al-Qaida is attempting to rebuild its presence inside Afghanistan, which was the base from which it planned the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks<\/a> against the United States. He said some militants are coming into the country through its porous borders, but it is hard for the U.S. to track numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. invasion that followed the Sept. 11 attacks led to a 20-year war that succeeded initially by removing the Taliban from power but ultimately failed. After President Joe Biden announced in April that he was withdrawing completely from Afghanistan, the Taliban systematically overpowered Afghan government defenses and seized Kabul, the capital, in August<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t