As the US government pushes for a deal with the Taliban that will pave the way for the withdrawal of US forces, the Taliban continues to promote the training of its fighters and attacks on Afghan and Coalition forces.
The Taliban continues to churn out propaganda that promotes jihad and the training of its fighters even as it is simultaneously negotiating an agreement with the United States that will lead to the withdrawal of US forces.
Mullah Hibatullah also continued to call for the “establishment of a true Islamic system,” which is merely code for the restoration of the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
The bombing, which leveled a police station and killed and wounded scores of people, is the latest in a series of terror attacks in the capital. The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation continues to claim the Taliban can be an “effective counterterrorism partner”despite the Taliban’s repeated use of terror tactics.
While the common narrative among US military and diplomatic officials is that the Taliban is taking control of districts to boost its negotiating position in so-called peace talks, the reality is that the Taliban has a long term military plan to gain control of strategic areas in order to reestablish its Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
Since July 2018, the UN Security Council has published at least four reports documenting al Qaeda’s close and longstanding relationship with the Taliban.
The Taliban has denied responsibility for the deadly attack that killed and wounded scores of civilians. However the Taliban’s denial is not credible. It controls the two districts in the area where the bombing took place.
Mizan district was under siege for more than one year before it fell. Security in Zabul province, which is a known haven for al Qaeda and straddles the border with Pakistan, has deteriorated over the past five years. Al Qaeda operated a base in Mizan as recently as Sept. 2016.
