US general vows to annihilate Daesh group
kabul — Afghanistan’s security forces, with the help of US and Nato ground and air support, will annihilate the Daesh group affiliate in the country and crush remnants of Al Qaeda, General John Nicholson, the top US general in Afghanistan, vowed on Thursday.
Nicholson also had a message for the Taleban: “Stop fighting against your countrymen. Stop killing innocent civilians. Stop bringing hardship and misery to the Afghan people. Lay down your arms and join Afghan society. Help build a better future for this country and your own children.”
Nicholson and Hugo Llorens, the US Embassy’s Special Chargé d’Affaires, told reporters in the capital Kabul that President Donald Trump’s new strategy for Afghanistan announced on Monday was a promise to Afghans that together they would defeat terrorism and prevent terrorist groups from establishing safe havens.
“We will not fail in Afghanistan,” Nicholson said. “Our national security depends on it, as well as Afghanistan’s security, and our allies and partners.”
But Taleban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid was defiant in a telephone interview with The Associated Press: “We are not giving our guns to any one and our Taleban are fighting until the last US soldier is no longer here in Afghanistan.” —
stop fighting against your countrymen. stop killing innocent civilians. stop bringing hardship and misery to the afghan people. General John Nicholson