Ayman al-Zawahiri’s killing has raised many questions and put a question mark on the intent of the Taliban regime in Kabul

The presence in Afghanistan of Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was killed in Kabul on July 31, 2022, by a US drone firing two AGM-114R9X hellfire missiles, was in clear violation of the US-Taliban agreement, signed in Doha on February 29, 2020, as well as assurances by the Taliban themselves. Section one, Part Two, of the agreement, says that the Taliban “will not allow any of its members, other individuals and groups, including al-Qa’ida” to use Afghanistan’s soil to threaten the security of the United States and its allies.” The second section says that the Taliban “will send a clear message” that those who threaten the security of the United States and its allies have no place in Afghanistan” and will instruct its members “not to cooperate with groups or individuals threatening the security of the United States and its allies.” The third section states that the “Taliban will prevent any group or individual in Afghanistan from threatening the security of the United States and its allies and will prevent them from recruiting, training, and fundraising and will not host them following the commitments in this agreement.”

Section four commits the Taliban “to deal with those seeking asylum or residence in Afghanistan according to international migration law and the commitments of this agreement so that such persons do not pose a threat to the security of the United States and its allies.” Section five commits it to not providing “visas, passports, travel permits, or other legal documents to those who pose a threat to the security of the United States and its allies to enter Afghanistan.”

As for assurances, at their first official news conference in Kabul on 17 August 2021, Zabihullah Mujahid, their spokesman, said that the Taliban wished for peaceful relations with other countries and no group would be allowed to use Afghan territory to attack other nations. He also assured the international community, including the US, that “nobody will be harmed. We don’t want any internal or external enemies.”

Al-Zawahiri had been al-Qaeda’s leader ever since a team of US Navy Seals killed Osama bin-Laden in May 2011. He had played a leading role in organizing the 9/11 terror strikes and several other attacks on the US. He had exhorted Muslims several times to kill Americans. There can be no doubt as to what al-Zawahiri stood for. Not surprisingly, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has said in a statement that al-Zawahiri’s presence in Kabul “grossly violated the Doha agreement and repeated assurances to the world that they [the Taliban] would not allow Afghan territory to be used by terrorists to threaten the security of other countries.”

Understandably, the Taliban, who desperately seek global recognition and the release of aid and their funds frozen abroad, have tried to cover their tracks. While condemning the drone attack, they have in a statement issued on August 4, 2022, denied having had any knowledge of al-Zawahiri’s arrival and stay in Kabul. They further said that they had “instructed the investigative and intelligence agencies to conduct a comprehensive and serious investigation into the various aspects of the incident," and assured that there was “no threat to any country, including America, from the soil of Afghanistan” and that the Islamic Emirate wanted to implement the Doha agreement and violations of it had to end.”The statement was ridiculous.

If the US could locate and killed al-Zawahiri, the Taliban could not have been unaware of his arrival and stay in Kabul. As the 13th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team (ASSMT) of the UN Security Council, submitted on May 25, 2022, states, the relationship between al-Qaeda and the Taliban remains close and is underscored by the presence, both in Afghanistan and the region, of al-Qaeda core leadership and affiliated groups, such as Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). As it so happens, Al-Zawahiri was living in a house belonging to a top aide of Sirajuddin Haqqani, Deputy leader of the Taliban and interior minister in the latter’s government, who heads the Haqqani terrorist network, which has always had close ties with al-Qaeda.

The 13th report clearly states that the Taliban have also been harboring the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba. The argument that they are allowing these to stay in Afghanistan but have kept them on short leashes, does not wash. As the 13th report of the ASSMT says, neither the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) — with whom the Taliban are at war--nor al-Qaeda “is believed to be capable of mounting international attacks before 2023 at the earliest, regardless of their intent or of whether the Taliban acts to restrain them.” Hence, the argument that their inaction suggests that the Taliban have defanged them, does not wash.

The contention that these groups remain in Afghanistan because of support from Taliban factions, raises the question: will factional support also prevent action to restrain them from launching large-scale terror strikes abroad in pursuit of jihad to establish Sharia rule globally? By the look of things, the answer is “yes.” The world is set to witness a wave of terror strikes in a couple of years.

(The author is Consulting Editor, The Pioneer. The views expressed are personal.)