US worried over support of armed groups in Afghanistan by regional neighbors

WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (KUNA) -- The US is concerned about "sanctuary or support" for armed groups provided by Afghanistan's neighbours, particularly Pakistan, Russia and Iran, the Pentagon said on Friday.
Russia has "overtly lent legitimacy to the Taliban," NATO and US military operations commander Gen John Nicholson Jr said, adding that Russia views that the Taliban, not the Afghan government, is fighting the so-called Islamic State group.
"The Afghan government and the US counterterrorism effort are the ones achieving the greatest effect against Islamic State," he stressed.
The NATO Resolute Support Mission and US Forces Afghanistan commander suggested that Russia intends to "undermine the Afghan government and the NATO effort and bolster the belligerents.
"It's not helpful," he said. "And it's something that the Afghan government has addressed with Russia." On Iran, Nicholson said that this support could be possible due to "linkages between the Iranians and the Taliban in the past." The US is also concerned about the possible "convergence" of around 20 groups, including 13 in Afghanistan and seven in neighbouring Pakistan, he said.
Therefore, he said "continuous pressure" on these groups was necessary in order to prevent them from uniting for certain goals, and "becoming something worse than they already are." Meanwhile, US military raids on Islamic State Khorasan, the IS group affiliate in Afghanistan, have decreased the group's numbers by 25-30 percent since September, he said.
The group's sanctuaries in Afghanistan have also been limited from nine districts to three amid the US counter-terror Operation Freedom Sentinel, he added.
Furthermore, Nicholson said Afghan forces recently thwarted eight attempts to seize provincial capitals.
These attacks, prevented amid a July-August operation, included three on Kunduz, two on Lashkar Gah Helmand, two on Tarin Kowt, and one on Farah Province.
Afghan security forces currently have a hold on around 64 percent of the population, while Taliban hold less than 10 percent, despite "slightly more" control of terrain, he said.
In April, Afghanistan added to its air force eight aircraft and about 120 tactical air controllers, which control aircraft on the ground, he revealed.
Since then, Afghan and coalition airstrikes have limited Taliban to mostly "small-scale attacks on checkpoints," he said, which "did not succeed in causing any cities to fall." He added that the "overall number of high-profile attacks is lower than last year." (end) sd.ibi