Reuters :
Islamist groups around the world have hailed the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan, sparking global alarm that the country could once again become a safe haven for jihadists inspired by its success.
The Taliban have said they will not allow Afghanistan to be used to launch attacks on other nations.
But experts say that ties remain with al Qaeda, whose attacks against the United States prompted Washington to invade the country in 2001, as well as other militant groups including in neighbouring Pakistan.
One of the Taliban’s top leaders is Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of the militant Haqqani network. The United States has designated him a global terrorist and offered $5 million for information leading to his arrest.
“Jihadists writ large are jubilant and electrified by the Taliban’s return,” said Asfandyar Mir, a South Asia security scholar affiliated with Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation.
“Major jihadist constituencies across South Asia, Middle East and Africa have taken note … (and) al Qaeda’s eco-system sees the Taliban’s return as its own victory.”
Besides groups affiliated to al Qaeda, congratulatory messages to the Taliban have come from Somalia’s al-Shabaab and Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Yemen’s Shi’ite Muslim Houthi group, which is opposed to the United States and other Western countries, said events in Afghanistan proved that foreign “occupation” was bound to fail.
The Pakistani Taliban, which is not part of the Afghan group, pledged allegiance, and said hundreds of its members were freed from prisons when the Afghan Taliban swept through the country in recent days.
World leaders have been sceptical of the Taliban’s moderate public pronouncements since seizing power, although some diplomatic officials familiar with its negotiations say the group is seeking international recognition and possibly development assistance.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the group’s spokesman, promised at a news conference in Kabul on Tuesday that Afghanistan would not be used to launch any attacks on foreign countries.
“I would like to assure the US and the international community that no one will be harmed … we will not allow our territory to be used against anybody,” he said. “We don’t want any internal or external enemies.”
Independent UN experts reported to the Security Council last month that al Qaeda was present in at least 15 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.
The experts also said Islamic State had expanded its presence to several provinces, including Kabul, and that fighters has formed sleeper cells. Islamic State is opposed to the Taliban. But some analysts and officials cautioned that the ultra-radical group could take advantage of any chaos, or encourage hardline Taliban fighters to defect as the movement settles into governance.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appealed to the Security Council to “use all tools at its disposal to suppress the global terrorist threat in Afghanistan.”
The Security Council stressed the importance of combating terrorism in Afghanistan to ensure other countries were not threatened or attacked.
In a call with US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson “stressed the importance of not losing the gains made in Afghanistan over the last 20 years, of protecting ourselves against any emerging threat from terrorism,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.
Two sources familiar with the matter said China had raised concerns over the anti-China East Turkestan Islamic Movement(ETIM) group with the Taliban in recent meetings.
