Taliban say no evidence of al-Qaeda or ISIS presence in Afghanistan
Taliban rulers have said there was no evidence of Islamic State or al-Qaeda militants being in the country, days after IS-K had claimed for the attacks on Jalalabad.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected accusations that al-Qaeda maintained a presence in Afghanistan and repeated pledges that there would be no attacks on third countries from Afghanistan from militant movements.
We do not see anyone in Afghanistan who has anything to do with al-Qaeda,” he told a news conference in Kabul.
"We are committed to the fact that, from Afghanistan, there would not be any danger to any country, said Mujahid.
The Taliban were ousted from power by US-led forces in 2001 for refusing to hand over al-Qaeda leaders responsible for the September 11 attacks.
They returned to Kabul last month after US forces announced they were leaving and the U.S.-backed government and military collapsed.
Mujahid denied the movement had any genuine presence in Afghanistan though he said it "invisibly carries out some cowardly attacks.
The ISIS that exists in Iraq and Syria does not exist here. Still, some people who may be our own Afghans have adopted the ISIS mentality, which is a phenomenon that the people do not support,” he said.
The security forces of the Islamic Emirate are ready and will stop them,” he said. The group claimed responsibility for a series of bomb attacks in the city of Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan at the weekend read more.
It also claimed a suicide bomb attack at Kabul airport last month that killed 13 US troops and scores of Afghan civilians who had crowded outside the airport gates.