Taliban says there is ‘no proof’ that Osama bin Laden was part of 9/11 attacks
Following the 9/11 attacks, the Taliban, who had already given Osama bin Laden safe shelter for several years during their control of Afghanistan, refused to hand him over to the United States.
NEW DELHI — The Taliban have stated that there is “no proof” that Osama bin Laden, the fallen Al Qaeda leader, was engaged in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Following the 9/11 attacks, the Taliban, who had provided safe haven to Osama bin Laden for several years during their previous control in Afghanistan, refused to hand him over to the US.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told NBC News in an interview broadcast on Wednesday, according to the Washington Post, that Osama bin Laden was in Afghanistan when he became a problem for the Americans, despite the fact that there was no proof he was involved.
Now, Taliban have pledged that Afghan soil will not be utilized against anyone.
The enmity between Taliban and United States
President George W. Bush ordered that the Taliban hand up bin Laden and dismantle ‘terrorist training camps’ after the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, which it claimed were masterminded by bin Laden.
When the Taliban refused, Bush unleashed an aerial campaign that, when joined with ground forces from the Afghan Northern Alliance, destroyed the regime, according to the Washington Post.
Osama bin Laden was the leader of the Al Qaeda and called by US as the mastermind behind the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
In 2011, he was assassinated by US Navy Seals in a military operation in the garrison town of Abbottabad.
Several military experts have warned that if the Taliban win control of Afghanistan, it will become a breeding ground for terrorism.
The Taliban pledged to terminate connections with al Qaeda as part of the US-Taliban pact agreed in Doha last year.
US conducts drone attack on Islamic State
Meanwhile, the US evacuated roughly 4,200 individuals in 12 hours Friday in a rush to get Americans and Afghans out of Taliban-controlled Kabul and away from anticipated Islamic State threats, according to the Biden administration.
Twelve U.S. military flights “carried approximately 2,100 evacuees,” a White House news release said.
29 coalition flights carried about 2,100 from the Kabul airport, the site of Thursday’s Islamic State attack that killed 13 U.S. service members. The suicide bomber’s blast killed at least 170 people and injured at least 155.
On Friday night, the U.S. military announced that it had carried out a drone strike in eastern Afghanistan that targeted and killed an Islamic State target.
Authorities have warned that another attack from an Afghanistan-based branch of the Islamic State could come during evacuation efforts.
