Pentagon official: “Islamic State in Afghanistan could be able to attack US in 6 months”

The US intelligence community has assessed that Islamic State in Afghanistan could have the capability to attack the United States in as little as six months, and has the intention to do so, a senior Pentagon official told Congress.

The remarks by Colin Kahl, under secretary of defense for policy, are the latest reminder that Afghanistan could still pose serious national security concerns for the United States even after it ended its two-decade-old war in defeat in August.

“It is our assessment that the Taliban and ISIS-K are mortal enemies. So the Taliban is highly motivated to go after ISIS-K. Their ability to do so, I think, is to be determined,” Kahl said, using an acronym for Islamic State in Afghanistan.

Islamic State have carried out suicide bombings and other attacks since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August, in an attempt to thwart the Taliban from imposing law and order.
Kahl estimated Islamic State had a “cadre of a few thousand” fighters.

He suggested al Qaeda in Afghanistan posed a more complex problem, given its ties to the Taliban, saying it could take al Qaeda “a year or two” to regenerate the capability to carry out attacks outside of Afghanistan against the United States.

Kahl also said the United States did not yet have any agreement with countries neighboring Afghanistan to host troops for counterterrorism efforts.