US monitoring Daesh in Afghanistan: State Dept.

The U.S. State Department has said that Washington is monitoring Daesh and its affiliated groups in Afghanistan, besides helping Kabul's security forces in fighting the terrorist organisation which is trying to expand its base.

"We are always looking at ISIL's (Daesh) ability to find safe haven and then expand to work with, these affiliate groups, factions of groups such as the Taliban that they might be able to exploit. We are monitoring it very closely," Tolo News quoted State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner as saying.

"We're in close contact and coordination with the Afghan security forces in that regard, and we're going to continue. If we see opportunities to take out key leadership, we're going to strike," he added.

He said U.S. is encouraging the efforts by the security forces in countering the insurgent groups.

"Any time you've got various splinter groups emerging, that does make those efforts more complex, but that remains our overarching goal and what we view as really the long-term solution for Afghanistan to achieve peace and stability.

But I don't have an assessment of what the latest development might mean for prospects, but we continue to encourage those efforts," he added.

He asserted that the U.S. has made a long-term commitment to Kabul, adding it would continue to help in establishing a more stable, peaceful, democratic, and prosperous future in the country.