Now that Afghanistan has fallen into the hands of the terrorist Taliban organization, “bad actors” around the globe are rejoicing. Specifically, a video has surfaced on Twitter showing a prominent Osama bin Laden operative “triumphantly” returning to his home in eastern Afghanistan.
As the United States and western allies pulled the last of their troops out of Afghanistan, Dr. Amin-ul-Haq, the former head of bin Laden’s Black Guard security, headed back in to the country.
Amin-ul-Haq was bin Laden’s security chief at the battle of Tora Bora and “was captured on video in a large convoy as it traveled through a checkpoint in Nangarhar province. Haq was accompanied by a large convoy of heavily armed Taliban fighters in brand new SUVs. A small crowd flocked to Haq to shake his hand and take selfies with him” reports the Long War Journal.
Dr. Amin-ul-Haq, a major al-Qaeda player in Afghanistan, Osama Bin Laden security in charge in Tora Bora, returns to his native Nangarhar province after it fell to the Taliban. Dr. Amin became close to OBL in the 80s when he worked with Abdullah Azzam in Maktaba Akhidmat. pic.twitter.com/IXbZeJ0nZE
— BILAL SARWARY (@bsarwary) August 30, 2021
The return of Haq, who was reportedly freed by Pakistan a decade ago, shows “that Al Qaeda commanders now feel secure enough to appear publicly in a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.” Long War Journal reports:
It was not immediately clear if al Haq was returning to his home in eastern Afghanistan for the first time, or if he has been in Afghanistan the entire time since being released from Pakistani custody. He may have also been traversing the porous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Either way, the confidence to travel and operate out in the open – in plain sight for the first time in a decade – speaks to the marked change in Afghanistan over the last month.
Al Qaeda leaders and fighters have been in Afghanistan supporting the Taliban’s insurgency for the past two decades. Pakistan’s cities and the tribal areas have served as safe havens for Al Qaeda over the past two decades.
