The United States senators Wednesday (September 15) wrote a letter to the Secretary of State Antony Blinken to designate the Taliban as a foreign terrorist organization as “current version of the Taliban government presents a significant threat to the United States”.
“Since reestablishing control of Afghanistan, the Taliban resumed the same murderous and oppressive habits that characterized their leadership tenure prior to the arrival of U.S. forces in 2001”, read the letter.
The signatories to the letter included Joni Ernst, Rick Scott, Dan Sullivan and Tommy Tuberville.
Explaining reasons for their demand, senators wrote, “Given their history of supporting terror attacks on the United States, their brutal style of governance, their continued display of atrocities against Americans and our allies, and now, their enhanced military capability, the current version of the Taliban government presents a significant threat to the United States. Further, the Taliban display the will and the means to attack Americans and American interests.”
The senators expressed their concern over the appointment of Sirajuddin Haqqani as the interior minister of Afghanistan. “The Taliban appointed Sirajuddin Haqqani, the leader of the Haqqani network and a known terrorist wanted by the FBI for the murder of American citizens, as Interior Minister and allowed terrorist organizations to join the government”, read the letter.
They also criticized the Biden administration for “the hasty and ill-conceived withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan”. The withdrawal of the U.S. forces created a security vacuum that was exploited by the Taliban, the letter alleged.
The U.S. forces completely withdrew from Afghanistan by August 31.
