Taliban needs to be beaten to stop another 9/11, says Obama

US president Barack Obama has warned that the Taliban must be defeated in Afghanistan to avoid another 9/11-style attack.
 
Obama was addressing veterans in Phoenix, Arizona, in the run-up to the presidential elections in Afghanistan later this week.

According to a Sky News report, he said that US troops were working hard to secure polling stations to enable Afghans to decide their own future.

And he asserted that while the fight against insurgents would not be quick nor easy - it was a war worth fighting.

Speaking at the Veterans of Foreign Wars' national convention, Obama reiterated his view that a mixture of military power, diplomacy and development was needed to defeat the Taliban.

If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which al Qaida would plot to kill more Americans.

Obama said: "This is not a war of choice, this is a war of necessity. Those who attacked America on 9/11 are plotting to do so again.”

Going forward, the president said that the US army would adapt its tactics to stay ahead of the enemy.

He also pledged that troops would be given the tools and equipment needed to succeed in Afghanistan.