Taliban Deny Reports Of Possible Ties With Al-Qaeda - Spokesperson

Muhammad Irfan Published May 05, 2021 | 04:02 PM

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told Sputnik that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, as it calls itself, did not have any al-Qaeda (a terrorist group, banned in Russia) militants in its ranks

KABUL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th May, 2021) Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told Sputnik that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, as it calls itself, did not have any al-Qaeda (a terrorist group, banned in Russia) militants in its ranks.

According to Mujahid, all foreign militants, including those from al-Qaeda, have returned to their home countries.

The comment comes a week after the acting head of the US embassy in Kabul said that the Taliban may have not entirely cut ties with the banned terrorist organization.

The Afghan government, too, claims that the groups are still linked.

"Taliban created a joint group from the Haqqani network [Taliban affiliate], Al-Qaida and ISIS [Islamic State, terrorist group, banned in Russia] members to carry out heavy and intense attacks and to stop the peace process. The leadership of this group has been given to the Haqqani network and its militants will be members of three groups," a senior government source told Sputnik.

The Afghan Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday that the country's armed forces had killed 20 members of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent group in Helmand province.

The Taliban, however, decried the ministry's claim as propaganda.

"The mercenary enemy has spread propaganda and unfortunately the media has also secretly admitted that it has killed 22 al-Qaeda members in Helmand. We strongly reject this propaganda. There is no al-Qaeda in Helmand and no one has been harmed," the Taliban official said.

Last week CNN reported, citing two al-Qaeda operatives, that the Taliban and al-Qaeda were still linked through the so-called Islamic Brotherhood. At the same time, the terrorist group said it was not interested in Afghanistan as a potential base for plotting and carrying out future attacks.