The terror group Al Qaeda, co-founded by Osama bin Laden in 1988, claimed that the complete withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan has humiliated the United States and tarnished its global reputation. Calling Afghanistan a “graveyard of empires and an impregnable fortress of Islam”, al Qaeda said that the war-torn country has “successfully defeated and expelled” an invading imperialist power twice within a span of fewer than two centuries. The group extended its congratulations to Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
However, a letter congratulating the Taliban, terror group Al Qaeda called for the “liberation” of Kashmir, Palestine, Somalia, and other “Islamic” regions. “It is time for you to prepare for the next stage of the struggle, the way for which has been paved by the victory of the defiant Afghan nation,” Al Qaeda said in a statement.
“O, Allah! Liberate the Levant, Somalia, Yemen, Kashmir, and the rest of the Islamic lands from the clutches of the enemies of Islam. O, Allah! Grant freedom to Muslim prisoners across the world,” the statement read. “We call upon the one nation that has demonstrated its liability to its religion and its ummah to unite around the blessed leadership of the Islamic Emirate—a leadership that has over the years proved its sincerity and keenness to safeguard the interest of the mass is and protect their religion, lives and wealth,” it added. PTI
The Al Qaeda statement came on the day the senior Taliban leader Sher Mohammed Stanakzai assured the Indian envoy to Qatar that no anti-India activity would be allowed in Afghanistan.
The Taliban has repeatedly assured other countries, including India and the US, that they won’t allow terrorist groups to use Afghan soil against them. In the peace deal signed between the US and Taliban which led to the foreign troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Islamist fundamentalists have specifically pledged to prevent al Qaeda and other terrorist networks from using Afghan soil.
The Narendra Modi government has noted with concern the statement issued by Taliban affiliate Al Qaeda on Tuesday praising the Sunni Pashtun US-designated terrorist group for humiliating and defeating American forces and then expelling them from Afghanistan and virtually exhorting the Islamist forces to launch global jihad to liberate Palestine, Islamic Magreb, Somalia, Yemen and Kashmir from the enemies of Islam.
However, the US President Joe Biden claimed its win in Afghanistan after it exterminated Al Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden.
Meanwhile ,it is quite evident that the capture of Kabul by the Taliban has made the group a rendezvous point for all jihadists in the world.
