The Press Secretary for the US Department of Defense, Pat Ryder said on Twitter that the US will maintain over-the-horizon capability “when it comes counter terrorism”.
Ryder made the remarks in respond to a question referring to the terrorist threats from Afghanistan.
“Well, without getting into internal Pakistani politics, we’ve known for a long time that there are terrorist organizations that exist within Afghanistan and throughout the region, and that’s certainly a surprise to no one,” he said.
“From a United States standpoint, as we’ve said before, we do maintain an over-the-horizon capability when it comes to counter-terrorism, and so that is something that we will continue to maintain and sustain in defense of our own homeland. But beyond that, I don’t have any other comments to make,” he said.
But Islamic Emirate’s spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said that such remarks will not benefit anyone.
“A phenomenon being called Daesh was also active here while the Americans were here.
They are being reduced now, except some sanctuaries in some major cities,” he said.
Analysts said that other countries are behind the terrorist groups.
“Any terrorist group which had been created or being established in Afghanistan, there have been support by neighbouring and powerful countries,” said Salim Paigir, a political analyst.
“Terrorist groups were active over the past 40 years in Afghanistan and they are now active as well,” said Sarwar Niazai, a political analyst.
“Unfortunately, we see that terrorist groups are present in Afghanistan and its victims are the people of Afghanistan,” said Torek Farhadi, a political analyst.
The remarks of the Pentagon’s spokesman comes as security incidents have recently increased in Afghanistan.