A diminished but resilient al Qaeda- the force behind the 9/11 attacks- is attempting a comeback in Afghanistan’s mountainous east as US and allied forces wind down their combat mission conceding a small but steady toehold to the terrorist organisation.
“Al Qaeda could try to reconstitute itself but they would do so at their own peril given the intense pressure they and other terrorist groups are facing in Afghanistan,” Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said on Saturday. This is a massive concern for US commanders, who had intensified strikes against al Qaeda sanctuaries in recent months. It also undercuts the Obama administration narrative which portrayed al Qaeda battered to the point of being a non-issue in Afghanistan, as allied troops start packing their bags. The way things stand at present, an unquestionably weakened al Qaeda appears to have preserved some limited means of regenerating inside Afghanistan while US influence in the country wanes. The final US combat troops are scheduled to leave by December 31, 2014, at which point security matters would be turned over to the Afghan government. “They are trying to increase their numbers and take advantage of the Americans leaving,” Paktika province police chief General Dawlat Khan Zadran said in an interview in the governor’s compound. He mentioned no numbers but said al Qaeda had moved more weapons across the border from Pakistan. For years the main target of US led forces had been the Taliban, rulers of Afghanistan and protectors of al Qaeda before the US invasion in 2001. Now their strategic goal is to prevent al Qaeda from finding a sanctuary once again in Afghanistan from where attacks could be launched on US soil.
US General John Allen, the top commander of international forces in Afghanistan, said al Qaeda had re-emerged and although its numbers were small, the group according to Allen did not need a large presence to become influential.
