Taliban: We Never Promised to Cut Ties with al-Qaeda

[mystery-ak]

Taliban: We Never Promised to Cut Ties with al-Qaeda

Gabrielle Reyes 12 Jul 2021

A spokesman for the Taliban terror group implied to Afghanistan’s Tolo News on Monday the jihadist organization “maintains ties with al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.”

Tolo News raised the issue of the Taliban’s alleged ties to the Islamist terror group al-Qaeda during an interview with Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on July 12. Mujahid said that an agreement between the Taliban, the legitimate government of Afghanistan, and the administration of President Donald Trump never required the Taliban to cut ties to the group.

“Nowhere in the agreement has it been mentioned that we have or don’t have ties with anyone,” Mujahid asserted, responding to a long list of evidence that the Taliban continued to associate with al-Qaeda following negotiations with Washington.

Speaking directly to Mujahid, the Afghan news site recalled that “Abdul Mohsin al Mesri, the number 2 of al Qaeda, was killed in Andar district in Ghazni, [Afghanistan,] an area under your control,” referring to an incident that took place in October of last year.

“The United Nations [U.N.] said on Oct. 31, 2020, that al Qaeda fighters are among Taliban ranks and that it is a violation of the Doha agreement,” Tolo News continued, referring to a U.S.-brokered peace agreement forged between the internationally recognized Afghan government based in Kabul and the Taliban in February 2020.

more
https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2021/07/12/taliban-we-never-promised-cut-ties-al-qaeda/

[The_Reader_David]

They're just begging for a few AC-130's, B-52's and a few dozen Reaper drones to come over and remind them what we can do to enemies even without any boots on the ground.

[Kamaji]

They're just begging for a few AC-130's, B-52's and a few dozen Reaper drones to come over and remind them what we can do to enemies even without any boots on the ground.

Going forward, that's what our interaction should be limited to.

[mystery-ak]

They're just begging for a few AC-130's, B-52's and a few dozen Reaper drones to come over and remind them what we can do to enemies even without any boots on the ground.

They should have done that on the way out...

[Hoodat]

They're just begging for a few AC-130's, B-52's and a few dozen Reaper drones to come over and remind them what we can do to enemies even without any boots on the ground.

Based out of where?  We just effectively handed our biggest air base in the region over to the Taliban.

[The_Reader_David]

Kuwait or Qatar.  Of course, AC-130s and B-52s can be flown in from even further away with in-air refueling if needed.  I seem to recall we also had some covert locations in the former Soviet 'Stans we used during the initial invasion, and could get them again if the locals don't fancy the Taliban, enough to base drones out of.