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Taliban ‘poised to retake Afghanistan’
A secret US military report says that the Taliban, backed by Pakistan, are set to retake control over Afghanistan after NATO-led forces withdraw from the country, The London Times newspaper reported on Wednesday.
A secret US military report said that the Taliban was set to retake control over Afghanistan as the last of US combat troops are set to leave the country by the end of 2014
Lt Col Jimmie Cummings, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), confirmed the document's existence but said it was not a strategic study of operations.
Nevertheless, it could be interpreted as a damning assessment of the war, now dragging into its eleventh year and aimed at blocking a Taliban return to power, or possibly an admission of defeat.
It could also reinforce the view of Taliban hardliners that the group should not negotiate peace with the United States and President Hamid Karzai's unpopular government while in a position of strength.
The document said that Pakistan's powerful security agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was assisting the Taliban in directing attacks against foreign forces.
The Times said the "highly classified" report was put together by the US military at Bagram air base in Afghanistan for top NATO officers last month. The BBC also carried a report on the leaked document.
Large swathes of Afghanistan have already been handed back to Afghan security forces, with the last foreign combat troops due to leave by the end of 2014.
But many Afghans doubt their army, security forces or police will be able to take firm control of one of the world's most volatile countries once foreign combat troops leave.
The US embassy in Kabul declined to comment on the report.
The accusations will likely further strain ties between Western powers and Islamabad, which has long denied backing militant groups seeking to topple the US-backed government in Kabul.
