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BIG STORY AUGUST 27, 2021 | The Indian Eye 4

threat frOm taliBan

Wait & Watch

taliban likely to host more jihadi groups. pakistan emerges as a kingmaker in

afghanistan. China looks to invest money in the troubled country. What are india’s

options as it faces a new threat in the neighbourhood?

Our Bureau market.
The Taliban gain of Afghan-
New Delhi/Kabul istan made jihadi’s cyberspace

he Americans are leaving erupt in celebration. Terrorist
and Kabul is on fire. But groups like Hayat Tahrir al-Sh-
Tthe Taliban, the new rul- am in Syria spoke of the Taliban’s
ers of Afghanistan, are sitting victory as an example worth em-
pretty. They have also got hold ulating.
of the United States’ sophisticat- Al-Qaeda in the Arabian
ed weapons following their vic- Peninsula praised the Taliban for
tory. Now, the Taliban are most “emancipating” Afghanistan.
likely to host more jihadis. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, also
Taliban has captured Afghan- known as the Pakistani Taliban,
istan after 20 years as US Presi- has already sworn allegiance to
dent Joe Biden announced the A Taliban fighter brandishes a weapon on the streets of Kabul (Reuters) its Afghan counterpart.
ending of the US military mis- As per reports, Lash-
sion at the end of August. With kar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Moham-
a massive inventory of Ameri- med terrorists in Kabul. Ayman
can and NATO weaponry, the al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s leader
Taliban has become the world’s since 2011, is said to be living
most lethal terrorist group. Tal- in Afghanistan under Taliban
iban’s rise to power is a grave protection. Zawahiri pledged
threat to Afghanistan’s immedi- allegiance to Hibatullah Akhun-
ate neighbourhood and beyond. dzada, the Taliban’s leader, in
As per some estimates, at least $ 2016. Curiously, the pledge of
230-million worth of American allegiance was not the other way
inventory alone now is in their around - Akhundzada pledging
hands including weapons, am- allegiance to the al-Qaeda chief.
munition, vehicles, drones and On Thursday, multiple blasts
planes. occurred outside Hamid Karzai
A further $ 19-million worth International Airport, US Pres-
of equipment allocated to the ident Joe Biden said the United
Afghan police now is in Taliban States has reason to believe the
hands. According to videos cir- leaders of the Islamic State-Kho-
culating on social media, the Tal- rasan terror group are behind
iban are posing in front of Amer- the attacks.
ican Black Hawk helicopters and A woman holding an Afghan national flag during a protest against the take- Biden said the Islamic
Brazilian-made AN-29 ground over of Afghanistan by Taliban, at Mandi House, in New Delhi on Monday (ANI) State-Khorasan has planned
attack planes. Apart from this, complex attacks against US forc-
the former government also had as planes, the Taliban lack the jihadis possessing such capabili- es and others in Afghanistan af-
Russian-designed Mi-17 heli- technical know-how in terms of ties may offer their services. Or ter they were released from pris-
copters. operation or maintenance. Yet that the Taliban may sell some ons during the Taliban takeover
It seems that at least for the this does not preclude the fact of the excess inventory to jihadi of Afghanistan.
more advanced weaponry, such that ideologically aligned foreign outfits on the international black Continued on next page... >>

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