The Taliban’s Expanding Threat

MAJ. GEN. SAMI SADAT, COMMANDING GENERAL, AFGHAN ARMY:  I think we — for me, it’s not a surprise that the Taliban are gearing up and preparing for attacking major cities. They’re already destroying much of the infrastructure, bringing more al Qaeda and regional terrorists into their fighters and ranks. That’s no surprise for us. I think we’re equally ready to counter that. For the past one-and-a-half year, we have been giving peace a chance throughout the time. And the Afghan forces remained in defense, while the Doha talks continued between the United States and the Taliban. Prisoners were released. And the United States airstrikes was limited. The ground forces completely halted. So we’re already in charge of the ground operations and what’s happening in the combat zones in Afghanistan. I think now that we know that the peace chance was wasted by the Taliban, they didn’t use it effectively, I think we’re also opening up to conducting ground offensive operations, targeted airstrikes. I’m not worried. On the contrary, I see this as an opportunity for Afghan forces to stand up to the day and defeat the Taliban. It may take some time. But defeating Taliban is inevitable for two purposes, the first purpose, the cause in which the Taliban are fighting. As the U.S. troops withdraw, it will be increasingly difficult for the Taliban to recruit in the village of Afghanistan in the name of jihad. So the very purpose of jihad will vanish with it. However, the Taliban, being a destructive force, they still have the capacity to wage violence across the country.