India 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.
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.
While US President Joe Biden claimed victory in Afghanistan after what he called decimating of Al Qaeda and killing of their leader Osama bin Laden, the Al Qaeda statement shows the group is alive and kicking in Afghanistan as it sought the allegiance of Taliban supreme leader Mullah Hibatullah Akundzada and previous two Ameer-ul-Momeen of the Islamist group including Mullah Omar. Just as the Taliban have never raised the issue of Kashmir, they have also never criticized the Al Qaeda group.
The statement reveals that the so-called liberation of Afghanistan was the first step and a precursor to global jihad by the Islamist group. It is quite evident that the capture of Kabul by the Taliban has made the group a rallying point for all jihadists in the world.
On Tuesday, Al Qaeda called on the Taliban to “liberate” Kashmir, Palestine, Yemen and other “Islamic lands” just as they liberated Afghanistan from the US occupation. In a message congratulating the Taliban, the terrorist group said that the victory of insurgents in Afghanistan demonstrated what the Islamic nation is capable of, adding that “jihad is the only way” towards “victory and empowerment”.
Courtesy: Hindustan Times