Now that Afghanistan has been ‘liberated’ from American occupation by the Taliban, Al-Qaida is calling on the global Muslim community to free other Muslim lands, such as Kashmir. It excludes Xinjiang in China and Chechnya in Russia, however. As the global terror group celebrated the Taliban’s ‘victory’ over the United States, it called for the next phase of the ‘struggle, paving the way for which the Afghan nation’s defiance has paved’.
Besides Kashmir, the group also prioritized the Levant, consisting of Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon; the Islamic Maghreb, or northwest Africa, comprising Libya, Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, Tunisia, Somalia and Yemen. According to As-Sahab, the official media outlet of the core al-Qaida leadership in Pakistan, this historic victory will help liberate the Muslim masses from the despotic rule of tyrants imposed by the West on the Islamic world.
A prominent target on the list is Kashmir. Al-Qaida last-mentioned Kashmir during the launch of its J&K outlet, Ansar Ghazwatul Hind, with the aim of recapturing India for Islam. Xinjiang and Chechnya, both locations of alleged atrocities against Muslims, were omitted for political reasons. China and Russia have come out in recent months to support the Taliban.
Al-Qaida’s core leadership remains in Pakistan with Ayman al-Zawahiri at its helm, and, as the announcement makes clear, remains attentive to the dictates of their hosts – the Pakistani government. The fact that Al Qaeda has refrained from naming two regions where Muslims have reportedly been targeted is remarkable. Many Chechens have been forced to join IS in Iraq and Syria. In Xinjiang, Muslims are oppressed.
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Despite the messy way in which the US has left Afghanistan, China and Russia have banded together to not only criticize the withdrawal but also support the Taliban. As the Taliban’s benefactors, China, Russia and even the Turks, are in an informal grouping with Pakistan. On Tuesday, China and Russia jointly abstained on Resolution 2593 at the UNSC. Both countries objected to the resolution’s exclusion of IS and ETIM (East Turkestan Islamic Movement) of Uighurs.
The Russian government objected to the evacuation of Afghans, calling it ‘brain drain’, while China wanted the US to remain in Afghanistan to complete its mission. Both countries called for the US and the multilateral financial institutions to unfreeze the Taliban’s assets. Russia is certainly eager to portray the Taliban as the ‘enemy’ of the Islamic State-Khorasan, hoping that with the new government in Kabul, the latter will be dealt with.
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