Al Qaeda powerbase in Afghanistan widens

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With Joe abruptly retreating American troops from Afghanistan in 2021, radical Islamic jihadists got hold of war machinery and military assets worth billions of dollars, which has enabled the Taliban and other jihadist groups including Al Qaeda in widening and expanding their notorious activities thus becoming mightier than it were during September 11 terrorist attacks on the US soil. Meanwhile, Pakistani military establishment, especially its spy agency Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) are helping the Taliban jihadists in making millions of dollars by selling part of the war machinery and military assets to various terrorist entities.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Americans and thousands of allies of American troops in Afghanistan were totally abandoned in the Taliban-controlled country, who became prime victims of Islamist cruelty. There are reports of jihadists dragging-out girls, women and minor boys from the homes of American allies who had fallen victims of gang-rape as well as murder. Taliban jihadists and other radical Islamic militancy outfits, including Al Qaeda consider American allies as “enemies of Allah”, despite the fact that almost all of them are Muslims.

It may be mentioned here that, during the presence of American and international troops in Afghanistan, thousands of Afghan nationals had worked and cooperated with them despite risk of being targeted by the radical Islamic jihadists.

Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and editor of the Long War Journal, said in a report at Just the News that now the Taliban controls all 34 provinces – as opposed to about three-quarters as of the 9/11 date when Muslim extremists commandeered four jets and created terror in Washington and New York, costing nearly 3,000 American residents their lives.

“The State Department’s policy essentially normalizes Taliban control of Afghanistan”, he explained. “This is absolutely insane. If the US is unwilling to support the Afghan resistance, then it’s effectively ceding Taliban control to Afghanistan”.

His response came after the State Department unleashed its condemnation on Afghans who now are fighting the Taliban.

There is a resistance because, the report explained, “the Islamist group in control of Afghanistan allows Al Qaida to operate freely across the country”.

It is the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, a military alliance opposed to the Taliban, that “recently ambushed the Taliban and took control of areas in the Khost district of Baghlan province in northern Afghanistan”, the report explained.

But the US State Department clearly has expressed dismay at Afghan resistance of the Taliban and radical Islamic jihadists.

Officials there rebuked the ambush in a statement to The Foreign Desk, and threatened that it wouldn’t support “violent opposition” to the Taliban.

“Many observers expressed shock and outrage at the State Department’s condemnation of Afghans for fighting back”, Just the News reported. “Just the News reached out to the State Department to clarify its intended message and whether it’s the position of the department that Afghans shouldn’t resist Taliban rule”.

A spokesperson responded, “We are monitoring the recent uptick in violence closely. We call on all sides to exercise restraint and to engage. This is the only way that Afghanistan can confront its many challenges. We want to see the emergence of stable and sustainable political dispensation via peaceful means. We are not supporting organized violent opposition to the Taliban and we would discourage other powers from doing so as well”.

Further, the statement that was released said the US is not focusing on “recognition”.

“Our focus is on working to advance American interests related to Afghanistan, including counterterrorism, economic stabilization, human rights, and safe passage. We are working with our allies and partners to press the Taliban to follow through on its public commitments made to the Afghan people, as well as the international community, before we can proceed with moving toward any kind of significant normalization”.

The Taliban, of course, has returned Afghanistan to much the state it was in before the US entered years ago. There have been reports of random executions of those who oppose the Taliban, women being restricted from travel without a companion, and girls being deprived of an education.

Roggio noted that information coming out of Afghanistan should be considered suspect, too, whether it’s from the Taliban or the resistance, because the nation is a “media black hole”.

It was before the US moved in during 2001 that the Taliban controlled, and gave permission to Al Qaeda to use, the region as a safe haven from which to launch terrorism.

While the Taliban regime is consistently lying about its commitments, Al Qaeda is currently running several training camps across Afghanistan, whereas, Pakistani ISI too is deeply involved with several jihadist groups in the country.

It may be mentioned here that several officials of the new Taliban regime, including Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund are having deep-rooted connections with Al Qaeda. Akhund has been on the United Nations black list for years, and when the US demanded the Taliban hand over Al Qaeda kingpin Osama Bin Laden, Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund said: “We will never give up Osama at any price”.

Tablighi Jamaat presence in Afghanistan

With Afghanistan fell into the grips of Taliban jihadists and other radical Islam militancy outfits, there is alarming rise in the activities of Tablighi Jamaat in the country, where Tablighi members are getting “special orientation” by the Taliban men on “spreading message of Islam” mostly in the “non-Muslim” nations. One of the keys aims of such collaboration is recruiting new members of Al Qaeda and other jihadist forces, while also focus on religious conversion of “non-Muslims” into Islam. According to sources, Pakistani ISI is also coordinating with Tablighi Jamaat members with the agenda of spreading religious hatred inside India, in particular.

It may be mentioned here that, several months ago, Saudi Arabia had banned Tablighi Jamaat activities in the country.

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