Afghan Taliban still 'closely aligned' with Al-Qaeda, claims UN report

A United Nations (UN) report released on Wednesday has claimed that the Afghan Taliban remain close to Al-Qaeda despite promises to break ties with the terror group.

The report compiled by the UN Monitoring Team responsible for tracking security threats in Afghanistan paints a bleak picture of the security outlook in the coming months.

As part of last year’s peace agreement with the US, the Taliban promised to cut ties with "groups or individuals threatening the security of the United States and its allies.”

But the UN report says the Taliban remains "closely aligned" with Al-Qaeda.

It further claims that Taliban leadership has no interest in the ongoing peace process, saying that "both deputy leaders of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Yaqub Omari and Sirajuddin Haqqani are reported by the Member States to oppose peace talks and favour a military solution.”

Taliban contest or control an estimated 50 to 70 percent of Afghan territory outside of urban centers, while also exerting direct control over 57 percent of district administrative centers, the report assesses.

It further notes that both Taliban and the international troops stationed in Afghanistan have suffered high attrition but Taliban recruitment has been steady whereas Afghan security forces have continued to decline. Taliban's current fighting strength ranges from 58,000 to 100,000, according to the report.

This is not the first report to claim that the group is yet to part ways with Al-Qaeda. The US intelligence agencies have made similar claims in the past.

US President Joe Biden has promised to withdraw all remaining US troops by September 11.

Afghanistan neighbors, including Pakistan, have warned that if a peace deal is not reached among different factions, chaos will erupt in the country after the withdrawal of international troops.