One of the Pentagon's top civilian officials revealed that assessment at a Senate hearing Tuesday morning, seemingly surprising some members on the dais at a time of widespread scrutiny into whether the Biden administration made the right decision to
withdraw fully from its longest war zone.
"It's precisely that threat that we need to remain vigilant, and disrupt," Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday morning – the latest hearing into the calamitous U.S. pullout from Afghanistan. "We actually are fairly certain they have the intention to do so."
Kahl said the terrorist network, known as ISIS-K, ISKP or IS-Khorasan, among others, "could potentially" develop the capability to launch external attacks within six-12 months. Likewise al-Qaida, which maintains safe havens in Afghanistan now under control of its allies the Taliban, "could potentially" have that capability in one-two years, Kahl added, citing U.S. intelligence assessments.
Analysts believe the Islamic State group's Afghan presence represents perhaps the most potent foreign threat to America.
"Right now, ISIS-K is probably the most capable in terms of orchestrating a plot that could be a viable threat to the U.S. homeland," Colin Clarke, senior research fellow at private intelligence firm The Soufan Group, tells U.S. News. Other Islamic State group affiliates, including in West Africa and Central Africa, have momentum but are more focused on local issues.
Others believe the threat timeline ISIS-K presents is not unique.
