Afghanistan has been hit by a wave of relentless violence in the past few days, prompting doubts that the Taliban has gained ground in the country. In the past 10 days alone, close to 150 people lost their lives in multiple attacks that many believe could be a message to US president Donald Trump, who recently renewed efforts to end the war.
The Pentagon on Monday condemned these recent attacks and said the US will continue to work with their allies to prevent the Taliban from claiming innocent lives.
“They (the Taliban) are murderous," Pentagon spokesperson Army Col Rob Manning told reporters. "They proved this weekend and this morning that their actions against innocent civilians are both unwarranted and frankly disgusting,” he remarked, adding that the recent attacks does not mean the Taliban had gained ground in Afghanistan.
“We're going to continue to work with our allies and partners in the region as we take that regional approach to the South Asia strategy to prevent the Taliban from those types of activities again,” he said.
When asked if the recent attacks could be related to Trump's decision to suspend aid to Pakistan, Manning said he couldn't draw that parallel. “We hope that Pakistan will continue to work with us on all matters regarding the South Asia strategy specifically terrorism going forward,” he said.
Earlier this month, the US suspended close to $2 billion in military aid to Pakistan for allegedly failing to shut down terrorist safe havens in its soil. President Trump also tweeted that Pakistan has given nothing to the US other than "lies and deceit" and providing "safe haven" to terrorists in return for $ 33 billion aid over the last 15 years.
Meanwhile, on Monday government watchdog Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said in a report that the US military was keeping from the public information that gauges the success of Afghanistan war.
“The number of districts controlled or influenced by the Afghan government had been one of the last remaining publicly available indicators for members of Congress ... and for the American public of how the 16-year-long U.S. effort to secure Afghanistan is faring,” John Sopko, the special inspector general, said in the report.
This comes following an increase of insurgent control in Afghanistan, said the report, adding that the disappearance of date from public disclosure and discussion was a cause for concern.
