"AQ [al-Qaeda]’s regional affiliate, AQIS [al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent] poses a threat to US personnel and allies in Afghanistan through its continued interaction with local Taliban commanders," the report said on Friday.
Earlier this month, President Joe Biden approved a full troop withdrawal by September 11 from Afghanistan after almost 20 years of American military intervention. Biden maintained that the main purpose of the US invasion of the country in November 2001 - to prevent future terror attacks on the American homeland - had been met.
The Pentagon report to Congress said that al-Qaeda had been degraded in Afghanistan but cautioned that the terror group was still capable of attacking Americans in the country.
"AQ [Al-Qaeda]s remaining core leaders pose a limited threat to US and coalition forces in Afghanistan because the leaders focus primarily on survival," it said.
The Taliban, al-Qaeda and its regional affiliate, al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), along with other violent extremist organizations and organized criminal networks continue to threaten stability and security in Afghanistan, the report added.
*al-Qaeda, ISIS (Daesh/ISIL/Islamic State), terrorist groups banned in Russia and an array of other countries