The estimated number of Al-Qaeda members in Afghanistan remained between 50 and 100 from 2010 to late 2015, says terrorism analyst and editor of the Long War Journal, Bill Roggio.
This estimate was only revised after a U.S. military raid of an Al-Qaeda training camp, in which about 160 Al Qaeda fighters were killed, he adds.
Roggio estimates the number of Al-Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan to now be in the thousands, possibly 10,000.
The safe haven for Al Qaeda, ISIS, and other terrorist groups that Afghanistan could now represent is the result of U.S. strategic errors, spanning 20 years, he says.
“Our enemies are watching: China’s watching; Russia’s watching; Iran is watching. And they’re not just watching, they now have a playbook on how to defeat the United States or weaken the United States.”
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