Kabul: top US general in Afghanistan on Thursday vowed to annihilate the Islamic State militant group and crush the remains of Al Qaeda after US President Donald Trump announced a new policy for the region.
Addressing a press conference in Kabul, Gen. John Nicholson also called the Taliban a “criminal organisation” and urged it to return to diplomacy, after years of a failed peace process with the Afghan government.
“Taliban have a simple choice: Stop fighting against your countrymen. Stop killing innocent civilians. Stop bringing hardship and misery,” Gen. Nicholson was quoted as saying by Tolo News.
“It’s time for them to join the peace process,” he said.
On the Islamic State, Gen. Nicholson said the group was being crushed in Nangarhar and that the US will pursue them wherever else they choose to make their stand.
He also stated that: “We will continue to crush the remnants of Al Qaeda and will increase our pressure on all terrorist groups.”
Gen. Nicholson and Hugo Llorens, the US Embassy’s Special Charge d’Affaires, who also attended the conference said that Trump’s new strategy for Afghanistan was a promise to the people in Afghanistan that together they would defeat terrorism.
“We will not fail in Afghanistan. Our national security depends on that as well,” Gen. Nicholson said.
He said that the US and NATO stand by the Afghan security forces against terrorists and enemies of Afghanistan.
“Let me say to the brave people of Afghanistan who only wish to live in a peaceful country: US, your NATO allies and partners are with you. This policy announcement by (President) Donald Trump is proof of our continued commitment.”
The US’s new strategy is guided by conditions on the ground, and not by “arbitrary timelines”, he said. The general did not disclose the number of additional troops expected to be sent to Afghanistan.
Gen. Nicholson said that the strategy encompassed all regional countries and that “we look to Pakistan to take decisive action against militant groups.” (IANS)