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Taliban is helping US, Joe Biden's off-the-cuff remark. Then, an explanation
A reporter asked Joe Biden if he admitted to mistakes during the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
US president Joe Biden said that Washington is getting the help from Afghanistan's Taliban to 'end' Al-Qaeda threat, contradicting a UN report released last month that said Taliban maintains "strong and symbiotic" ties with Al-Qaeda, and that the latter "is rebuilding operational capability" on Afghan soil. The US president made the remarks during a press conference following the Supreme Court's decision to block his student debt relief program.
When a reporter asked if he admitted to mistakes during the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Joe Biden said, “No, no. All the evidence is coming back,” according to a White House transcript.
“Do you remember what I said about Afghanistan? I said al Qaeda would not be there. I said it wouldn't be there. I said we'd get help from the Taliban. What's happening now? What's going on? Read your press. I was right," Joe Biden said.
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This comes after a US state department report blamed both former US president Donald Trump and Joe Biden administrations for chaos that followed during the final weeks of US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The Taliban replied to Joe Biden's remarks, saying, "We consider remarks by US President Joe Biden about non-existence of armed groups in Afghanistan as acknowledgement of reality. It refutes the recent report by UN Sanctions Monitoring Team alleging the presence & operation of over twenty armed groups in Afghanistan."
The UN report had said that “the link between the Taliban and both Al-Qaeda and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) remains strong and symbiotic. A range of terrorist groups have greater freedom of manoeuvre under the Taliban de facto authorities. They are making good use of this, and the threat of terrorism is rising in both Afghanistan and the region.”
