Washington: The United States has described the Afghan Taliban as "an armed insurgency", while the Islamic State as a "terrorist" group, drawing a controversial distinction between the two militant organisations.

"The Taliban is an armed insurgency. ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and Levant) is a terrorist group. So we don't make concessions to terrorist groups," White House deputy press secretary Eric Schultz told reporters in response to questions at the daily press briefing yesterday.