In the context of its attempts to provide reassurances to the international community, the Taliban returned to talk about the period of Osama bin Laden and his presence in Afghanistan, after the September attacks against the United States of America, and to try to justify its relationship with the former al-Qaeda leader.
In an interview with NBC , the Taliban spokesman claimed there was no evidence that bin Laden was responsible for the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States.
Zabihullah Mujahid claimed in the interview that this claim was “incorrect”, promising that Afghan territory “will not be and will not be used against anyone.”
Mujahid admitted: “When Osama bin Laden became an issue for the Americans, he was in Afghanistan,” adding, “Although there is no evidence of his involvement, we have now made promises that Afghan territory will not be used against anyone.”
“There is no evidence, and even after 20 years of war, we have no evidence of his involvement,” he added.
Twenty years after a US-led coalition toppled the rule of the Taliban, which had a close relationship with Al-Qaeda, from power, the movement has taken control since Sunday, following a large-scale attack launched in May, in Afghanistan. The movement’s fighters spread in the streets of the capital, Kabul, from which Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled as the US forces began to leave.
The movement made what was described as a “reconciliation offer”, pledging not to take revenge on its opponents, and to respect the rights of women in a “different” rule for Afghanistan than it was twenty years ago.
In front of the insistence of the NBC correspondent on Mujahid on this issue, he asked: “It seems, until now, after all this, that you do not accept any responsibility? Mujahid replied:” There was no justification for this war, it was a pretext for war. “.
When the reporter asked Mujahid about the US leaving Afghanistan , the Taliban spokesman said, “The withdrawal is almost over. This is our happiest moment.”
The Newsweek report notes that despite the Taliban spokesman’s statement, “the 9/11 commission report concluded that the attack was motivated by Osama bin Laden.
The report indicates that with the preparation for the attack on the United States of America, opposition emerged from within the movement to the al-Qaeda attack.
Taliban leader Mullah Omar opposed attacking the United States. Despite the opposition of many of his top lieutenants, bin Laden effectively rejected their objections and proceeded with planning the attack.
In 2004, bin Laden appeared to have admitted his role in organizing the September 11 attacks in video statements.
“God only knows that we did not think of attacking the two towers, but after the situation became unbearable and we witnessed the oppression and tyranny of the US-Israeli alliance against our people in Palestine and Lebanon, I thought about it,” Bin Laden said.
Referring to the 1982 Lebanon War, bin Laden said: “While I was watching the destroyed towers in Lebanon, it occurred to me to punish the oppressors in the same way and destroy the towers in America so that you can taste some of what we taste and stop killing our children and women.”
The Taliban were harboring bin Laden when the group was in power in Afghanistan in 2001 and the US intervention came in order to capture the al-Qaeda leader and prevent the country from being used as a base to attack the United States.
