2024-02-21 14:34:25
A UN Security Council report found that since the Taliban resumed rule of Afghanistan in 2021, the country has once again become a haven for terrorist organizations.
Al-Qaeda is resurgent in Afghanistan under Taliban rule, establishing eight new training camps along with five madrassas – Islamic educational institutions – across the country, a UN Security Council report from late January revealed, the Jerusalem Post newspaper reported. “, quoted by BTA.
The report, prepared by the Security Council committee set up to monitor al-Qaeda, said the Taliban had failed to keep their promise to the US, set out in the Doha agreement, to sever ties with the terrorist group and that the two organizations continued to are close, notes CBS.
A year after the takeover of Kabul from the Taliban, the US killed then al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike in Kabul’s diplomatic quarter. He was staying in a guesthouse belonging to the Taliban’s interior minister, who is also the leader of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network, Sirajuddin Haqqani.
“The presence of senior al-Qaeda figures in the country has not changed and the group continues to pose a threat in the region and potentially beyond,” the UN report warned. However, it noted that, in its assessment, “the group is currently unable to plan sophisticated long-range attacks.”
Analysts believe that al-Qaeda is now a much weaker organization than it was before, and many doubt that the Taliban would take action that would jeopardize the humanitarian aid provided by the US to Afghanistan, which remains vital. to prevent a humanitarian crisis in the country.
“Are there training camps in Afghanistan? It’s entirely possible. But their capacity to strike targets outside the immediate South Asian region is minimal,” veteran regional policy analyst Torek Farhadi told CBS. “The Taliban are careful not to allow such activities to develop as they are in contact with American authorities.”
“The US is currently the largest humanitarian donor in Afghanistan through the UN, but ultimately this support has resulted in avoiding a further humanitarian crisis in the country. The Taliban recognize this valuable support from the US and will not risk violating this arrangement .”
CBS notes the statement by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction that since August 2021, the international community has provided Afghanistan with at least $2.9 billion in aid, of which about $2.6 billion are provided by the US government.
The report states that the training camps are located in various provinces, including Ghazni, Laghman, Parwan and Uruzgan. It also listed locations used by al-Qaeda to move its fighters to and from neighboring Iran, and said a new weapons storage base had been established in the Panjir Valley, north of the capital, Kabul.
“The group maintains hideouts to facilitate movement between Afghanistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran in Herat, Farah and Helmand provinces, with additional hideouts in Kabul,” the report said.
“This accommodation of Al-Qaeda within Afghanistan has confirmed long-standing fears expressed by many observers that the country is once again becoming a haven for terrorist organizations under the rule of the Taliban,” he told the American site “Media Line”, covering events in the Middle East, Shaheen Modares, an international security analyst specializing in Iran, affiliated with the think tank Center for the Middle East and Global Order (Center for Middle East and Global Order).
Modares said al-Qaeda and the Taliban, which retook control of Afghanistan in 2021 after US-led coalition forces left the country, share a history of cooperation and ideological alignment. He said that during their insurgency against coalition forces, the two organizations maintained deep-rooted ties that were based on a shared jihadist worldview and mutual support for each other’s goals.
Silvia Boltuk, managing director of the business and geopolitical intelligence platform SpecialEurasia, told “Media Line” that the political instability in Afghanistan after the return of the Taliban created a favorable environment for the resumption of terrorist operations.
“There has been a remarkable escalation in terrorist attacks, from roadside and suicide bombings to rocket and mortar attacks, direct fire, kidnappings and violent crimes,” Boltuk said, adding that many of the incidents targeting religious sites occurred during religious holidays.
Modares said that in addition to historical ties and ideological similarities between the two groups, al-Qaeda’s presence provides the Taliban with strategic advantages, including access to experienced fighters, operational expertise and potential influence on regional dynamics.
The situation on the border between Afghanistan and Iran has been tense for several years, with the two Islamist governments, one Sunni and the other Shiite, accusing each other of accusing each other of persecuting and failing to protect their ethnic minorities. Tensions are also heightened by the long-standing dispute over the Helmand River.
Modares noted that al-Qaeda’s potential interest in establishing bases in Iran reflects a strategic calculation aimed at improving its operational capabilities and expanding its reach beyond Afghanistan.
“Iran’s geographic proximity to Afghanistan, combined with complex geopolitical dynamics, provides al-Qaeda with opportunities to establish logistics hubs, recruit new members and coordinate cross-border activities,” he said.
Having bases in Iran could serve al-Qaeda multiple purposes. According to Modares, these include facilitating the movement of fighters, access to resources and support networks, and establishing a presence in a region of significant strategic value.