US: Taliban very dangerous, but not a terror group

Washington, January 30

The US has said that the tactics adopted by the Taliban are akin to terrorism but those terror tactics have principally been focused on Afghanistan unlike Al-Qaida or ISIS which have worldwide network.

Justifying its stance of dubbing the Afghan Taliban as “an armed insurgency” and fighting the group, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said American service members have given their lives fighting the Taliban because they do pose a threat to American interests inside Afghanistan.

“They (the Taliban) do carry out tactics that are akin to terrorism. They do pursue terror attacks in an effort to try to advance their agenda,” he said.

Earnest’s remarks came a day after his deputy Eric Schultz said, “the Taliban is an armed insurgency. ISIL is a terrorist group.”

“Now, what’s also true, is that it’s important to draw a distinction between the Taliban and Al-Qaida. The Taliban has resorted to terror tactics, but those terror tactics have principally been focused on Afghanistan,” he repeated.

The reason that the US is concerned about that is there obviously are a significant number of American personnel, including American military personnel, in Afghanistan that are in harm’s way, he said.

“The Taliban is a very dangerous organisation. What the President has pursued is a clear strategy for building up the central government of Afghanistan and the Afghan security forces, so that they could be responsible for security in their own country and take the fight to the Taliban,” he said.

“That, however, is different than the strategy that we have pursued against Al-Qaida. The Qaida is a terrorist organisation that has aspirations that extend beyond just the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. — PTI

Taliban vs Qaida 

"It's important to draw a distinction between the Taliban and Al-Qaida. The Taliban has resorted to terror tactics, but those terror tactics have principally been focused on Afghanistan. The Qaida is a terrorist organisation that has aspirations that extend beyond just the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan." Josh Earnest, White House press secretary