Two of the most senior senators in the US Congress have called on the Trump administration to fight the insurgency threat to Afghanistan with the same urgency as its war against Daesh terrorism in the Middle East and the world.
If the US involvement in Afghanistan is not intensified the current stalemate in the Afghan government’s battle against the Taliban and other terror groups could “slide into failure”, warned senators John McCain, chairman of the US senate’s armed services committee Lindsay Graham, a member of the same committee.
In an opinion article at the Washington Post, one of the most influential newspapers in the US, the senators pointed out that the current Afghan government only controls 57% of the country’s territory. A year ago, the Kabul government controlled 72% of Afghanistan.
“This month, two simultaneous suicide attacks by the Taliban in Kabul killed at least 16 people and wounded more than 40. In northern Afghanistan, the Taliban overran another district. These setbacks came on the heels of disturbing losses across the country,” the senators wrote. (They penned the article prior to the recent Daesh attack on a military hospital in Kabul in which more than 50 people were killed).
McCain and Lindsay expressed appreciation for the Afghan security forces role in fighting terrorism.
“Make no mistake: Afghans are fighting ferociously to defend their country from our common enemies. At the same time, we must recognize that the United States is still at war in Afghanistan against the terrorist enemies who attacked our nation on Sept. 11 and their ideological heirs. We must act accordingly.
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