Al-Qaeda reportedly regrouping in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, aided by ‘permissive environment’

A quarter century after 9/11, al-Qaeda and other terror groups are regrouping in Afghanistan following the US withdrawal and return of the Taliban to power in 2021, the Washington Post reports, citing US and Western security officials and a United Nations organization.

Al-Qaeda and its offshoots have established at least eight bases in Afghanistan over the past three years, while Islamic State, al-Qaeda’s main rival, has also opened training sites in Afghanistan in recent years, the Post says.

A UN report cited by the Post says the Taliban has reintroduced “a permissive environment” that has allowed al-Qaeda “to consolidate, with the presence of safe houses and training camps across Afghanistan.”

Nonetheless, terror groups gaining a foothold in Afghanistan appear to focus more on regional conflict than worldwide jihad, and seem to be constrained by the Taliban’s reticence to invite new international intervention in the country, according to officials and counterterrorism experts cited by the Post.