Bill Roggio testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, as well as the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. The hearing is titled, “Pakistan: Friend or Foe in the Fight Against Terrorism?”
The Taliban and allied groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, al Qaeda, Harakat-ul-Mujahideen, and Lashkar-e-Taiba are known to have run dozens of camps inside Afghanistan even as the Coalition was present.
Recently released letters recovered in Osama bin Laden’s compound reveal that key Pakistani leaders, including the brother of Pakistan’s current prime minister, sought out negotiations with al Qaeda. Pakistan intelligence also communicated with al Qaeda leaders through jihadist intermediaries to discuss a possible truce.
Fazle-ur-Rahman Khalil, Harakat-ul-Mujahideen’s founder and leader, signed Osama bin Laden’s infamous 1998 fatwa that declared war on the US and Israel. HUM was added to the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations 18 years ago.
The pair of al Qaeda commanders are said to be members of the Badr Mansoor Group, which was described in one of Osama bin Laden’s documents as an al Qaeda “company.”
Usama Mahmoud, AQIS’s spokesman, openly stated that the group “was formed by the gathering of several jihadi groups that have a long history in jihad and fighting.”
The jihadist group, which is tolerated by the Pakistani state and whose leader lives openly in Islamabad, is currently running training camps in eastern Afghanistan, the US State Department said.
Fazle-ur-Rahman Khalil, the man Osama bin Laden consulted before issuing his infamous fatwa against the US, lives comfortably near Islamabad.
