MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Al-Qaeda still poses a big threat to Afghanistan, Acting Afghan Defense Minister Masoom Stanekzai said Wednesday.
"They are really very active. They are working in quiet and reorganizing themselves and preparing themselves for bigger attacks," Stanikzai told CNN.
The acting minister stressed that the group worked behind "other networks," providing them support and experience, as well as resources and recruitment capabilities.
Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations of the US-led NATO Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, admitted to gaps in knowledge of al-Qaeda’s size.
US and Afghan officials’ warning came a day after another fundamentalist group in the country, the Taliban, announced an annual "spring offensive" against foreign and national security forces.