Remember, the Taliban and Al Qaeda are joined at the hip. The Haqqani Network, which was put in charge of security in Kabul and is holding one American hostage, is an interface between the two Jihadist organizations. They also have some of the same backers and funders in the Middle East. And a big part of the Taliban’s victory came from the presence of foreign Jihadists.
So the Taliban are no more likely to turn on Al Qaeda now than they were after 9/11. They’re actually echoing the same old talking points.
During an interview with NBC News’s Richard Engel from Afghanistan, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid made the claim in response to a question about whether the country will again become a base for terrorism as the Biden administration prepares for the withdrawal of U.S.troops.
“When Usama bin Laden became an issue for the Americans, he was in Afghanistan. Although there was no proof he was involved, now we have given promises that Afghan soil won’t be used against anyone,” he said.
By that, the Taliban mean they’ll deny Al Qaeda has anything to do with terrorism.
When asked if he really believes bin Laden wasn’t involved in Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, Mujahid doubled down.
“So it sounds like, even now, after all this, you’re accepting no responsibility,” Engel responded.
“There is no evidence. Even after 20 years of war, we have no proof he was involved,” Mujahid replied. “There was no justification for war. It was [an] excuse for war.”
Al Qaeda and OBL eventually claimed credit for the attacks, but it doesn’t really matter.
The Taliban are playing for plausible deniability. Islamic terrorist groups will inevitably operate in Afghanistan. And the Taliban will deny that they’re terrorists.
And considering Biden’s humiliating retreat, why should the Taliban fear America?
When a country abandons its own people and turns security over to its own worst enemies, it certainly has no ability to pose any kind of deterrent to the Taliban hosting Al Qaeda.
gravenimage says
Taliban Back to Defending Al Qaeda
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No one should be surprised by this.
Markus Ehrenschild says
I believe it is far too early to conclude so firmly that Taliban and ISIS are “joined at the hip”. They might have been united in resistance to the government and the Western forces, but their interests are NOT necessarily aligned. It is entirely possible that the Taliban will now prefer to reap the benefits of being in the saddle rather than engaging in “perpetual global jihadist evolution.”And the Taliban certainly have the ruthlessness required to root out ISIS. If 75,000 Taliban fighters turn on the roughly 1,500 members of ISIS, along with support from the population, then the latter have little chance of survival.
jule says
Not too early, too late. Of course Taliban wants to be top og but they will use ISIL for all they can, and are. and Then they are joined to al Qaeda, Qatar, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Hezbollah, much of Syria, Hamas ETC. You cannot divide this up into small gangs when it comes to all the rest of non Muslims. Even Saudi, Gulf, Egypt, Jordan, who are also in danger, can not be 100% trusted….but they are ready to use any against these nutcases so they are an ally for now.
gravenimage says
JIhadists sometimes fight each other for power. Doesn’t mean they are different ideologically, of course.