Taliban Reject Reports of Al-Qaeda Training Camps in Afghanistan

KABUL (Terror Monitor) — The Taliban have rejected reports that Al-Qaeda has established training camps in Afghanistan, describing the reports as propaganda directed against the Taliban government.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told private television channel TOLOnews on September 13 that reports about an Al-Qaeda presence in Afghanistan were part of a negative campaign against the Taliban government.

Mujahid said such reports could come from biased groups and intelligence agencies seeking to increase tensions and create insecurity in the region.

He said no foreign militant group, including Al-Qaeda, is present in Afghanistan and stressed that Afghanistan does not allow its territory to be used against other countries.

The Taliban’s comments came a day after a report published by The Washington Post on September 12 cited U.S. and other Western intelligence officials, as well as a United Nations body monitoring terrorist groups, as saying that Al-Qaeda had re-established training camps in Afghanistan.

According to the report, Al-Qaeda and affiliated groups have established at least eight training camps in Afghanistan over the past three years.

The report said Al-Qaeda had taken advantage of the security vacuum that emerged after the Taliban returned to power and U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021.

The competing accounts highlight continuing international concerns over the presence and activities of Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan, despite repeated Taliban assurances that Afghan territory will not be used to threaten other countries.