US coordination with Taliban against Daesh ‘possible’, general says

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army General Mark Milley said yesterday that “it’s possible” for the US army to coordinate with the Taliban on any future counter-terror operations in Afghanistan against the Islamic State-Khorasan militants or others.

“In war you do what you must in order to reduce risk to mission and force, not what you necessarily want to do,” Milley said during a Pentagon press briefing.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin added that commanders had worked with the Taliban on a very narrow set of issues “to evacuate as many people as possible”.

Since last month, US military commanders have been communicating daily with the Taliban to facilitate the evacuation of thousands of people from Kabul airport, as America ended its 20-year war in Afghanistan, and the two sides reportedly struck a secret agreement to escort Americans to the airport.

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