Afghanistan at Risk From 'Persistent Threat' of Terrorist Networks

US Commander of the Resolute Support Mission Gen. John Campbell said that Afghanistan "has not achieved an enduring level of security and stability that justifies a reduction in our support in 2016."

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The terrorist threat in Afghanistan has evolved over the past year, posing an enduring risk to the country, US Commander of the Resolute Support Mission Gen. John Campbell said on Thursday.

"Groups aligned with the Taliban such as al-Qaeda and the Haqqani Network… are certainly not ‘residual threats’ that would allow for peaceful transition across Afghanistan," Campbell told the US Senate Armed Services Committee. "Instead, they are persistent threats that are adapting to a changing operational environment."

Over the past year, Afghan Security Forces as well as US and NATO troops, have faced an evolving security situation in Afghanistan, which included the rise of the Islamic State in the Khorasan Province. The Islamic State, also known as Daesh, is a designated terrorist group outlawed in the United States, Russia and numerous other countries.

Campbell also noted that Afghanistan "has not achieved an enduring level of security and stability that justifies a reduction in our support in 2016."

In October 2015, President Barack Obama announced the United States would sustain a troop presence of 9,800 in Afghanistan through 2016, which will drop to 5,500 by 2017. Obama previously planned to reduce US troop levels to 1,000, but the 2015 fighting season and reemergence of terrorist threats led to a reassessment of the plans.