US Continues To Have Concerns About Terror Groups Operating In Afghanistan - Justice Dept.

The United States continues to have serious concerns about international terror groups in Afghanistan following the US withdrawal from that country, Assistant US Attorney General Matthew Olsen said in a congressional testimony on Tuesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2022) The United States continues to have serious concerns about international terror groups in Afghanistan following the US withdrawal from that country, Assistant US Attorney General Matthew Olsen said in a congressional testimony on Tuesday.

"From my vantage point, international terrorism remains a priority... We continue to have concerns about both ISIS (Islamic State) and al-Qaeda (in Afghanistan)," Olsen told the US Senate Judiciary Committee about potential additional national security threats caused by the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

In December, the Afghanistan Ambassador to Tajikistan Muhammad Zahir Agbar told Sputnik that the Taliban (under UN sanctions over terrorist activities) grants al-Qaeda and Islamic State fighters Afghan passports.

The practice is a signal that terrorism is being legalized there, the ambassador said.

The terrorist threat to the US homeland from externally-directed attacks is at its lowest since September 11, 2001, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Combating Terrorism Milancy Harris told the US House of Representatives in December. However, the United States still faces a number of terrorist groups committed to targeting its interests and personnel abroad, Harris added.