Officials have warned of catastrophic violence in Afghanistan as the deadline approaches for all U.S. troops to withdraw by the end of August.
The Taliban’s blitz of Afghan territory expanded on Wednesday, with the insurgents asserting control over nine of the country’s 34 provincial capitals. Afghan and U.S. officials have warned of catastrophic violence in the war-torn country of 39 million as the deadline approaches for all U.S. troops to withdraw by the end of August. Nader Nadery, a senior member of the Afghan Peace Negotiation Team, expressed grave concern over the rapidly worsening situation while speaking to CNBC on Wednesday. « If the Taliban advances militarily, the region will be burned. This war will not be contained within the borders of Afghanistan, » Nadery told CNBC’s Capital Connection. Asked what he saw as the most immediate danger to the international community, Nadery, who lived through decades of turmoil in Afghanistan, described a potential swell in terrorist activity far beyond the country fueled by a sense of victory over Western forces. The fear is of « a consolidation of power of all the terrorist groups [under] the umbrella of Taliban and the space that the Taliban is providing for them, » Nadery said. « The slogan now of every single terrorist group with the jihadist mind is ‘now that we have defeated the United States and its 42 allies in Afghanistan, we can go after them anywhere’, » Nadery added. « That slogan is a clear danger that will enable groups like the Daesh (ISIS), Al Qaeda and others to rally more people, because they’re on the march, they feel triumphant. » « Members of the Taliban told us in our face that they have defeated the United States and the NATO allies, » he continued. « And that’s not going to be an easy slogan for them to give up, it will be a danger to any disenchanted young in the region and in a broader global arena, where they will join forces around that slogan, and this is not an easy danger.
