Al-Qaeda May Have Capacity to Threaten US From Abroad in 1-2 Years, DIA Director Says

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The al-Qaeda terror group (banned in Russia) could have the capability to threaten the US mainland from Afghanistan in one to two years, Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) Director Scott Berrier said at the Intelligence and National Security Summit on Tuesday.

"The current assessment probably conservatively is one to two years for Al Qaeda to build some capability to at least threaten the homeland," Berrier said as quoted by the New York Times.

CIA Deputy Director David Cohen in remarks at the summit said his agency is monitoring al-Quaeda potential movement to Afghanistan, the report said.

Berrier added that the US intelligence community needs to rebuild its intelligence gathering capability in Afghanistan while also improving its ability to monitor China and Russia, the report said.

On Monday, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said Somalia, Syria, Iraq and Yemen pose greater security threats to the United States than Afghanistan, however, that was an assessment made prior to the fall of the Afghan government in August.

The Taliban (banned in Russia) has vowed to cut ties with al-Qaeda and to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for terrorist groups as part of the Doha agreement reached with the Trump administration in February of 2020.