Al-Qaeda, Taliban alliance stronger than ever before: Admiral Mullen

Washington, Aug.28 (ANI): US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, has said that even though the allied forces have challenged Al-Qaeda and its allies in Afghanistan for eight years, the Taliban- Al-Qaeda alliance has now become stronger than ever before.

In an interview to The Boston Globe, Admiral Mullen said the Taliban's alliance with Osama bin Laden and other top leaders of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network has become stronger than ever, highlighting that public support to the 'war on terror' in Afghanistan was 'waning'.

He said the Taliban has emerged as a far more potent opponent than it was at the time when the operation had started.

"It is much broader than it was back then, and much deeper. The Taliban are much closer to Al-Qaeda than it used to be. They are much more affiliated with each other than they were a few years ago. Call it a federation. This is the eighth year, but there is a newness here. There is a starting again, or starting over. Iraq has been the focus, it hasn't been Afghanistan," Mullen said. (ANI)