A US general has said he has concerns about the Taliban’s relationship with Al Qaeda as the US began withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.

In a US house armed services committee session, Commander of US Central Command Gen Kenneth McKenzie said if the Taliban were to further their relationship with Al Qaeda after US troops pull out, the US would be ready to reintervene.
“We know how we got in 2001, so we have an object lesson on how to enter Afghanistan” he said.
Gen McKenzie said the coming weeks would be vital to test the Taliban’s willingness to abide by the accord.
“We don’t need to trust them, we don’t need to like them, we don’t need to believe anything they say. We need to observe” he said, saying he had faith in the Afghan government to assert themselves.
Gen McKenzie said US forces were not worried about the presence of ISIS in Afghanistan as the group effectively had little presence in Nanghahar province, but noted there were attempts by the extremist group to rebuild.
Currently the US has about 13,000 soldiers in Afghanistan — 8,000 of whom are involved in training and advising Afghanistan’s National Security Forces, while about 5,000 are involved in antiterror operations and militarily supporting the Afghan army when they are requested.