The Afghan government's unilateral halt to attacks on the Taliban is giving U.S. counterterrorism forces a chance to intensify combat operations against Islamic State-affiliated extremists in eastern Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and the top U.S. general in Kabul said Friday.
Army Gen. John Nicholson said the fight against IS in the southern part of Nangarhar province had already been intensifying this year and would be further stepped up during the cease-fire, which does not apply to non-Taliban opposition groups. Nicholson spoke with reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO defense ministers.
Speaking separately at a NATO news conference, Mattis said the cease-fire could put U.S. forces in a better position to fight other extremist groups such as the IS affiliate and remnants of al-Qaida.
"If the Taliban take full advantage of the cease-fire in the best interests of the Afghan people, then many of the surveillance assets that we have overhead can be reoriented to ISIS-K, to al-Qaida and other foreign terrorists that have no business being in Afghanistan in the first place," Mattis said. ISIS-K is a name for the Islamic State affiliate that operates in three provinces in eastern Afghanistan.
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