U.S. Says it Will Intensify Fight Against ISIS in Afghanistan by Robert Burns – Associated Press
BRUSSELS - The U.S. will intensify combat against the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan during the Kabul government’s temporary halt to attacks on the Taliban, senior U.S. officials said Friday.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said this could, for example, allow the U.S. to partially shift the focus of aerial surveillance from the Taliban to ISIS fighters as well as al-Qaida extremists, who remain a threat 17 years after the U.S. invaded.
Mattis spoke to reporters during a break in a NATO defense ministers meeting, which included a discussion of progress and problems in Afghanistan. The ministers also discussed more broadly the international campaign against ISIS, which has focused since 2014 on eliminating the group’s so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria…