Al-Qaeda re-emerges as a threat from an Afghanistan in chaos

Pakistani Taliban, or TTP group, also destabilising neighbouring state

- Nirmal Ghosh

WASHINGTON - Afghanistan is again in chaos, with the Taliban severely restricting women and fighting elements of the Islamic State Khorasan Province, and its ideological sibling Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) destabilising Pakistan.

And with the Taliban showing no sign of moving against Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, an old worry is surfacing that the terrorist group could be re-emerging as a threat, across the region and to the United States and its allies.

The threat of Al-Qaeda is greater today than it was prior to the Sept 11, 2001 attacks in the US that triggered the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, argues Mr Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracy and editor of the Foundation's Long War Journal, which analyses the US' global war on terror.

Before Sept 11, 2001, the Afghan Taliban did not fully control Afghanistan, Mr Roggio told The Straits Times' Asian Insider.