al Qaeda, ISIS could pose threat in ‘two years’ - Pentagon

Top U.S. military leaders said on Thursday that international militant groups like al Qaeda could pose a threat from Afghanistan to the U.S. homeland and American allies in two years.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham questioned U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley about it at a Senate Committee hearing:

SEN GRAHAM: "How would you rate the likelihood of international terrorist organizations like al Qaeda and ISIS regenerating inside of Afghanistan and presenting a threat to our homeland or our allies given what you see today?"

SECRETARY AUSTIN: "I would assess it as medium. I would also say, Senator, that it would take possibly two years for them to develop that capability."

GENERAL MARK MILLEY: "I concur with that, and I think that if certain other things happen - if there was a collapse of the government or a dissolution of the Afghan security forces, that risk would obviously increase, but right now I'd say medium and in about two years or so."

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: "It's time for American troops to come home."

President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw troops completely from Afghanistan by September has raised concerns that the country could erupt in full-scale civil war, providing al Qaeda space in which to rebuild and plan new attacks on the U.S. and other targets.

The comments from Pentagon leaders on Thursday are some of the clearest signs of concern in the military and the intelligence community about this threat.

A United Nations report in January said there were as many as 500 al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan and that the Taliban maintained a close relationship with the Islamist extremist group.

The Taliban denies al Qaeda has a presence in Afghanistan.

The United States has completed more than half of its military withdrawal from Afghanistan, which is expected to be finished well before September.

Biden has said the U.S. has the ability to keep an eye on any resurgence of al Qaeda without keeping a military footprint, but his administration is still trying to negotiate agreements with countries around Afghanistan to base forces or conduct lethal strikes.