Afghan Taliban are not terrorists: White House

They act like terrorists, they regularly kill civilians like terrorists, but the White House does not consider the Afghan Taliban to be a terrorist group, reports BBC.

"They do carry out tactics that are akin to terrorism. They do pursue terror attacks in an effort to try to advance their agenda," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest explained Friday, but "they have a different classification."

 Semantics aside, the Taliban is suspected in multiple attacks over just the last 48 hours that have killed more than 30 people, including a suicide bombing attack on a funeral in Afghanistan today that killed 16 and wounded 39.

 Even so, the White House does not call the Afghan Taliban a terrorist organization, Earnest explained, because they are "different than an organization like al Qaeda that has a much broader global aspiration to carry out acts of violence and acts of terror against Americans and American interests all around the globe."