SecondTaliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said at the Islamists’ first press conference that they wanted to assure the international community that the land of Afghanistan would not pose a threat to them. For example, the issues that emerged in Kabul on Tuesday night focused on the domestic political situation and what the Taliban’s power means for women. But it also raised the issue of terrorism originating in Afghanistan. Mujahid tried to dispel his worries. “Foreign fighters” are not allowed to take action against other countries from Afghanistan. He added: “We don’t want to have problems with the international community.”
The speaker’s words touched the pain points of the Taliban and the international community, especially the United States. Despite the brutality of the Taliban regime in the 1990s, Islamist rule was not the reason for the US-led intervention in October 2001. The immediate goal after the devastating 9/11 attacks was to put Al Qaeda in its place. Washington’s first task is to capture or kill the Saudi leader Osama bin Laden of the Islamic terrorist organization.
Al Qaeda is still active
However, the Taliban, which has hosted al-Qaeda leaders since 1996, did not want to hand over bin Laden without evidence. Three-quarters of a year ago, they had ignored the ultimatum issued by the UN Security Council to extradite it. After another U.S. President George W. Bush’s ultimatum expired, the United States joined the Northern Alliance in an attack and drove the Taliban out of Kabul. Bin Laden, who successfully escaped, was killed in a raid in Pakistan nearly ten years later. The star of Al-Qaeda has since sunk, and other organizations such as the Islamic State (IS) have received more attention in the past decade. But this terrorist organization is still active-now that the Taliban are back in power, the question of how they deal with al Qaeda has reappeared.
Especially for the U.S. government, the question of what capabilities Al Qaeda still has in Afghanistan has played an important role for many years. In addition to NATO’s participation, the United States has its own mission in Afghanistan, which is to take action against Al Qaeda, the Islamic State and other terrorist organizations. President Joe Biden clearly pointed out the importance of combating terrorism in his speech on Monday. He said that despite recent developments, he does not regret his decision to withdraw. Twenty years ago, the United States went to war with “clear goals”: “We must catch those who attacked us on September 11, 2001, and make sure that Al Qaeda can no longer use Afghanistan as a base to attack us. We did it. “
