Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, a spokesman for the U.S-NATO coalition in Afghanistan, acknowledged on Thursday the expanded collaboration in Afghanistan between al Qaeda and the Taliban after the former’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, endorsed Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, the Taliban’s leader, last fall (Post, RFE/RL). Al Qaeda, according to Brig. Gen. Cleveland, has between 100 to 300 fighters in Afghanistan. He said, “…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.” Cleveland did not specify the skills provided, but in the past al Qaeda has supplied bomb-makers and suicide bombers to allied groups. Assessing the Islamic State’s (IS) presence in Afghanistan, Cleveland estimates there are roughly 1,500 IS fighters in the country – a number that he believes has decreased due to more U.S. air strikes.
Taliban and al Qaeda working more closely together in Afghanistan
Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, a spokesman for the U.S-NATO coalition in Afghanistan, acknowledged on Thursday the expanded collaboration in Afghanistan between al Qaeda and the Taliban after the former’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, endorsed Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, the Taliban’s leader, last fall (Post, RFE/RL). Al Qaeda, according to Brig. Gen. Cleveland, has between 100 to 300 fighters in Afghanistan. He said, “…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.” Cleveland did not specify the skills provided, but in the past al Qaeda has supplied bomb-makers and suicide bombers to allied groups. Assessing the Islamic State’s (IS) presence in Afghanistan, Cleveland estimates there are roughly 1,500 IS fighters in the country – a number that he believes has decreased due to more U.S. air strikes.
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