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One of Osama bin Laden’s top lieutenants has appeared in Afghanistan flanked by Taliban body guards, dashing White House promises that Afghanistan would no longer be an al-Qaeda safe zone.
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Dr Amin al-Haq, former chief of Osama bin Laden’s personal security entourage, was photographed in Afghanistan flanked by Taliban security this week, dashing White House promises that Afghanistan will no longer be a safe haven for extreme Islamist movements.
The security entourage headed by al-Haq was called the Black Guard, and took an oath to defend bin Laden to their deaths. The Black Guard numbered up to 500 soldiers while the US hunted bin Laden.
Dr. Amin-ul-Haq, a major al-Qaeda player in Afghanistan, Osama Bin Laden security in charge in Tora Bora, returns to his native Nangarhar province after it fell to the Taliban. Dr. Amin became close to OBL in the 80s when he worked with Abdullah Azzam in Maktaba Akhidmat. pic.twitter.com/IXbZeJ0nZE
— BILAL SARWARY (@bsarwary) August 30, 2021
Earlier this week, President Joe Biden assured the US and its allies that al-Qaeda was destroyed and that it would no longer find sanctuary with the Taliban.
"We delivered justice to bin Laden on May 2nd, 2011, over a decade ago. Al-Qaeda was decimated," President Biden said.
"We succeeded in what we set out to do in Afghanistan over a decade ago, and we stayed for another decade. It was time to end this war."
The destruction of al-Qaeda has been a key White House argument to support the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. Earlier this month, the White House explained that with al-Qaeda destroyed, the US was free to depart the country having accomplished its mission.
“Look, let's put this thing in perspective. What interest do we have in Afghanistan at this point, with al-Qaeda gone? We went to Afghanistan for the express purpose of getting rid of al Qaeda in Afghanistan as well as – as well as – getting Osama bin Laden. And we did,” President Biden said.
However, the president was soon rebuked by the Pentagon, with Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby confirming that "we know that al Qaeda is a presence, as well as ISIS, in Afghanistan, and we've talked about that for quite some time."
The emergence of the photos prompted numerous analysts to question the validity of the president’s multiple claims that the Taliban would no longer harbour al-Qaeda, with al-Qaeda no longer a functioning Islamist group.
Indeed, the relationship between the Taliban and al-Qaeda is far deeper than the modern Taliban cares to advertise.
According to Thomas Joscelyn in the Long War Journal, both bin Laden and his successor Ayman al-Zawahiri both swore allegiance to Taliban leaders. Recently, al-Qaeda’s media arm released a lengthy statement congratulating the Taliban.
“We call upon the Afghan nation to abide by the decisions and Shariah-based policies of the blessed Islamic Emirate,” al-Qaeda’s media statement said, furthering suggesting that Muslims “extend its total support to the Islamic Emirate in all fields, specifically at this critical juncture in which all forces of disbelief have set their eyes upon this Islamic nation.”
[Related: The Taliban 2.0 – Learning from the past]
