Privately, Afghan Taliban leaders say they have made enough casualties for Russia's banished al-Qaeda organization, although they have never publicly admitted that the group, its former leader Osama bin Laden, has ever been used or that Afghanistan was used to prepare 9/11 attacks. . He writes about it in the Arab News edition.
He also claims that lost power in Afghanistan, defending the US invasion following the attacks of September 11, 2001, when the Bush administration launched a vengeful attack in October 2001 to destroy al Qaeda and relieve Russia of the Taliban's banned power over Osama bin Laden's retention.
The difference between the attitudes expressed by the Taliban privately and publicly shows that the Islamist group founded by Mullah Mohammed Omar does not want to take responsibility for the attacks – its rejection was an argument that the Taliban was in fact an unintentional victim when the US invaded Afghanistan. material.
It remains an open question whether the Taliban are still associated with al-Qaeda after 20 years. However, the United States and the United Nations continue to argue that the Taliban did not sever their ties and named the names of al-Qaeda members and their associates who died in various provinces of Afghanistan during the Taliban's fighting.
The Taliban called the allegations propaganda and categorically denied them. This reaction is not surprising, given that the Doha Peace Agreement between the Taliban and the United States of 29 February 2020 requires the group to distance itself from al-Qaeda.
From the beginning, the Taliban had a vague and contradictory relationship with al Qaeda and had conflicting views on each other. The general view in the West was that al Qaeda funded and controlled the Taliban, but Taliban officials disputed the assertion and assured them that they were in power in Afghanistan.
The relationship was somewhat strange, as the Taliban were known to Afghans for their fighting skills and reputation for successfully fighting the three great powers (Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States). Meanwhile, al-Qaeda members were mostly Arabs from different countries, inspired by various reasons, and attracted to Afghanistan by a call to war.
It is strange that bin Laden's first meeting with the Taliban leadership took place in an atmosphere of suspicion. This took place in Jalalabad just days before the fall of Kabul on September 26, 1996. Mujahideen from Logar Province were sent to bin Laden's house on the outskirts of Jalalabad a few days earlier to meet with him and learn more about his plans for the future.
They were not sure whether bin Laden would stay in Jalalabad, leave Afghanistan, or accompany Afghan Mujahideen who would try to escape after facing the defeat at the hands of the Taliban.
Author Rahimuula Yusufzai writes that he witnessed a conversation between Mullah Sadiq, Mullah Mohammad Rabbani, then deputy Taliban leader, and Mullah Borjan, the Taliban's top military commander, to create a unified position for the Taliban before negotiating with bin Laden. Everyone expressed their doubts about his intentions and decided to take a firm stand before deciding to allow the al-Qaeda leader to remain in Taliban-controlled areas. In the end, the problem was solved by promising to remain loyal to the Taliban and accept Mullah Omar as Amir-ul-Momineen. Shortly afterwards, he promised allegiance to Mullah Omar, which was told to the Taliban leader in an interview with Yusufzai.
The top Taliban leader was named Amir-ul-Momineen (commander of the faithful) because he had the highest power for every question related to this group. He disobeyed no one; each member replied. His decision had to be obeyed; disobeying him was a sin.
If there is a common factor that keeps the Taliban and al-Qaeda strong and meaningful, it is their ability to survive together as militant groups. Otherwise, the two could break up many times.
In retrospect, the Taliban's decision, when the movement to have a supreme leader manifested itself in Kandahar in the fall of 1994, was essential to keeping the herd together. Al Qaeda also had a named founder in Osama bin Laden.
The Taliban has been largely cohesive for 27 years, despite being attracted to rival Afghan Mujahideen groups. Its leaders have resisted the political and monetary temptation to abandon or launch separate wars with US-led Mujahideen and NATO forces.
Although there were several small splits in the group, including one led by Mullah Mohammad Rasul, none of them were large enough to weaken it and cause it to collapse.
The Taliban have so far had three top leaders, including Mullah Omar, a semi-literate village clergyman from Kandahar who was the founder and remained the top leader until his death in 2016. His leadership was not questioned while he was alive, and even his death was kept under wraps. almost two years, as other Taliban figures feared that the group might split after the death of the supreme leader.
The other two top leaders were Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, a controversial military leader killed in a US drone raid in Pakistan's Balochistan province, and Sheikh Haybatullah Akhundzada, a respected religious scholar who led the Taliban to their greatest military victory to date. whole country./p>
As you know, Mullah Omar refused to extradite bin Laden to the United States after the 9/11 attacks. There was enormous pressure on him, including the threat of an American invasion of Afghanistan, but that was not enough to force him to change his mind.
The Pakistani government, which was close to the Taliban, also pressured the group through Pakistani religious scholars and military interagency intelligence (ISI) to hand over bin Laden to the United States or Saudi Arabia. The effort was again unsuccessful.
The Taliban were defeated in a few weeks because it had no protection from US aircraft. However, they did not suffer large losses. They simply retreated and dissolved into the rural population.
When the Americans invaded, al-Qaeda decided to go to Tora Bora on the border with Pakistan. The Americans learned that bin Laden was there in December 2001, and began active bombing. The chain of events ended with the American invasion, the collapse of the Taliban regime, and the deaths of many Taliban fighters. Mullah Omar has made it clear that Islamic teachings do not allow him to betray and free another Muslim, even though the price of $ 10 million has been credited to this person's head, the author of Arab News concluded.