The Taliban say the US report on its ties to Al Qaeda is based on “False information”

The statement from the Taliban spokesman, Zabihulá Mujahid, has come after the US Treasury Department alerted in a report that Al Qaeda “is gaining strength” in Afghanistan while “it continues to operate under the protection of the Taliban”, despite that the historic February 2020 peace agreement between Washington and the insurgents forced the group to cut its ties with the terrorist organization.

“Currently there are no Al Qaeda operatives present in Afghanistan nor is there a need for any foreigners to live in Afghanistan,” Mujahid said, before stressing that “members of Al Qaeda and other foreigners who previously sought refuge in Afghanistan they returned to their countries in 2001 in the wake of the full-scale war in Afghanistan and uprisings in the Arab world. ”

Thus, he has highlighted in his statement, published through the Taliban website, that “unfortunately, some circles continue to seek the extension of this war imposed on the Afghan nation in its pursuit of its evil interests and objectives.”

Mujahid has also maintained that these “circles” seek “to corrupt minds and create unjustified fears with propaganda” and has stated that they “base their information on warmongering people and parties before sending them to other departments.”

“We consider the full implementation of the Doha agreement as a logical solution to the existing problem, and also that it is in favor of the interests of the American and Afghan peoples,” said Mujahid, who reiterated that the Taliban “will remain committed to all clauses “of this pact.

In this sense, he has emphasized that the group “will not allow anyone to pose a threat to the security of the United States and its allies from Afghan territory or to build bases here.” The Islamic Emirate maintains that all parties involved must remain committed with the Doha agreement and its responsibilities, “he added.

KABUL’S ACCUSATIONS

The Afghan authorities have repeatedly accused the Taliban of maintaining their ties with Al Qaeda despite the peace agreement with the United States, which has been rejected by the insurgent group, which has argued that the terrorist organization “has no presence” in the country.

However, Kabul has announced the death of several members of the group in recent months, including the media chief of the terrorist organization Al Qaeda and, according to various terrorism experts, the group’s second-in-command, Egyptian Abu Muhsin al Masri.

For his part, the coordinator of the United Nations Taliban, Al Qaeda and Islamic State Monitoring Team, Edmund Fitton-Brown, said in October that this terrorist organization continues to be “strongly integrated” with the Taliban.

“The Taliban were speaking periodically and at a very high level with Al Qaeda and reaffirmed that they would continue to maintain their historical ties,” said Fitton-Brown, adding that their relations “have not changed substantially” since the signing of the agreement. of peace.

Al Qaeda has lost strength and capacity to attack the West in the last decade but its leader, the Egyptian Ayman al Zawahiri, is believed to remain in hiding in Afghan territory along with other leaders of the terrorist group, including Al Masri.