Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) security situation in Afghanistan, (b) extent of the Deash presence in Afghanistan and (c) nature of the relationship between Daesh and the Taliban.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) continue to provide security in the vast majority of the country, but in some parts of Afghanistan the situation is fluid as Taliban forces seek to put ANDSF under pressure. NATO and US continue to train, advise and assist the ANDSF. We assess that the Daesh affiliate in Afghanistan and Pakistan aims to expand its presence in Nangarhar Province in the east of Afghanistan. They are subject to military action by Afghan and US forces and they also face resistance from the Taliban with whom they are competing for influence.