Taliban unlike Al-Qaeda 'not at war' with America, says former US Taliban hostage

New York, July 23(ANI): Jere Van Dyk, an American held hostage by the Taiban for 45 days in 2008, has said that the Taliban, unlike Al-Qaeda, does not choose to be at war with the United States.

Van Dyk makes the claim in his newly published memoir "Captive: y time as a prisoner of the Taliban".

"They're not the enemy here (on US soil). They're our enemy because we're there," The News quoted Van Dyk, as saying.

He also said that the Taliban are "isolated" and "hardened" by years of war, but still fundamentally remain a local movement, separate to Al-Qaeda's global jihad.

"People think they're the same, but I believe they're distinctly different," he added.

The 64-year-old has visited Afghanistan several times, and worked there as a journalist on and off since the 1970s.

In February 2008, he was captured at gunpoint while attempting to report in the Taliban heartland on the Afghan-Pakistani border. (ANI)