Joe Biden’s ‘Al Qaeda’ statement confused Afghanistan

While the international post-Taliban community frequently claimed that terrorist organizations such as DAESH and Al-Qaeda increased their activities in Afghanistan, the US killed Al-Qaeda leader Eymen ez-Zawahiri in an operation in the capital Kabul in July 2022. .

In the recently released United Nations (UN) report, it was stated that relations between the Taliban and Al-Qaeda improved, with some Al-Qaeda members being appointed to high-level positions, such as the governorship.

However, the expressions used by US President Biden in his press release yesterday caused astonishment throughout the world, especially in Afghanistan.

“Do you remember what I said about Afghanistan? I said that al-Qaeda would not be there. I said that we would receive help from the Taliban. What is happening now? Read your press, you were right. she used his statements.

THE TALIBAN WELCOMED THE EXPLANATION

Biden’s statement was assessed by the Taliban as “a confession that al-Qaeda does not exist in Afghanistan.”

Speaking to Al Jazeera, the Taliban interim government’s deputy foreign minister, Emirhan Muttaki, interpreted Biden’s statements as an understanding of the facts, while his spokesman Abdul Kahhar Belhi claimed that these statements refute the UN report.

REACTION OF TALIBAN OPPONENTS

Biden’s statement was met with a wide range of reactions, including from former Taliban opposition politicians.

In some publications, it was claimed that the Taliban are the “puppet and slave” of the US, while it was claimed that there were secret deals between the US and the Taliban on an undisclosed security and intelligence level.

Others claimed that this statement was directed at domestic US public opinion and that Biden wanted to cover up mistakes made during the withdrawal from Afghanistan while the next US presidential election was underway.

Former Afghan Vice President Emrullah Saleh claimed that the Doha Agreement signed between the Taliban and the US was not intended to bring stability to the country, and that with this agreement, the US used the Taliban as “mercenaries” to implement its plans in the region. .

Salih argued that the Doha Agreement is a conspiracy against Afghanistan and that the agreement that the West wants to hide goes against his country’s national interests.

Former Afghan National Security Director and former presidential candidate Rahmatullah Nabil described Biden’s statement as the “revealing of hidden annexes” to the Doha Agreement. Nabil described the Taliban as “the American Wagner in this region.”

Shahrzad Akbar, former head of the Afghan Human Rights Commission, also highlighted human rights violations by the Taliban and criticized the “receipt of aid” from the United States.

RESPONSE TO TALIBAN CRITICISM

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid responded to the reactions.

Mujahid argued that Biden’s remarks were proof that the Taliban had lived up to their commitments and claimed that his critics were slaves of the United States during the occupation of Afghanistan and were spying on behalf of this country.

Mujahid said:

“Today your country is independent in all its decisions. That means freedom, not slavery. If the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) had been a slave to the US, it would not have been persecuted, it would have been officially recognized and there would have been no obstacles to its development.” (AA)