White House counterterrorism director Sebastian Gorka said Friday that the Taliban have been “moderately cooperative” partners in counterterrorism efforts.
Speaking in a conversation on Friday, Gorka said cooperation stems from overlapping security concerns inside Afghanistan.
“This sounds strange coming out of my mouth, but the Taliban have been moderately cooperative counterterrorism partners, because there are certain threat groups in their country, Muslim threat groups that threaten them as well,” Gorka said. “We’re not having a complete overlap in threats, but not bad.”
Gorka said some “very promising” developments are underway regarding US citizens detained in Afghanistan, though he did not provide details. He described the detention issue as one of his greatest concerns.
The counterterrorism director also criticized the 2021 fall of Kabul, blaming the Biden administration for what he called a diminished ability to monitor threats in the region. “The biggest concern is, of course … with the surrender of Kabul under Biden. It’s very hard to see everything we need to see happening in that region,” Gorka said.
The US withdrew its forces from Afghanistan in August 2021 after nearly two decades of war, leading to the Taliban’s return to power. Since then, Washington has refused to formally recognize the Taliban rule, citing its restrictions on women and girls and ties to terrorist networks.
At the same time, US officials and United Nations reports have noted that Islamic State’s Afghanistan affiliate, ISIS-K, has expanded its operations in the country, posing threats to both the Taliban and international security.
While the Taliban have clashed with ISIS-K, they continue to face accusations of harboring fighters from groups such as al-Qaida and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). A recent UN report estimated ISIS-K has about 2,000 fighters in Afghanistan, while TTP maintains about 6,000.
