Al-Qaeda reportedly regroups in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan 25 years after 9/11 terror attack

The terrorist organization al-Qaeda is regrouping in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan 25 years after the 9/11 attacks in the United States, The Washington Post reported on Saturday.

The report, based on information from U.S. and other Western security officials as well as the United Nations, said al-Qaeda has established eight bases in Afghanistan since the U.S. withdrawal from the country. With the tacit support of the Taliban, the group has reportedly expanded its presence to 14 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.

A UN report said the Taliban regime has reintroduced “a permissive environment” that has enabled al-Qaeda and other extremist organizations “to consolidate, with the presence of safe houses and training camps across Afghanistan.”

Al-Qaeda’s presence in Afghanistan played a central role in the planning of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States. The plot to hijack the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York City was reportedly conceived at an al-Qaeda facility in Tora Bora, eastern Afghanistan, in 1996. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden later approved the plot at a site in Kandahar.

All 19 terrorists who participated in the 9/11 attacks reportedly spent time at al-Qaeda facilities in Afghanistan before carrying out the attacks, in which nearly 3,000 people were killed.

While al-Qaeda remains a threat, The Washington Post report said the group is currently focused primarily on regional rather than global conflicts. The Taliban, while allowing al-Qaeda to operate in the country, is reportedly seeking to limit the group’s global reach out of concern that international terrorist activity could trigger renewed U.S. and Western military strikes against Afghanistan.

There have also been unconfirmed reports that al-Qaeda is attempting to reestablish a presence at the Tarnak Farms compound near Kandahar Airport. However, The Washington Post, citing satellite imagery it reviewed, assessed that there is currently no clear evidence of renewed terrorist activity at the site, which previously served as a facility for bin Laden.

Despite its renewed presence in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda remains significantly smaller than it was in the years preceding 9/11.

Colin Smith, coordinator of a UN Security Council team that monitors al-Qaeda, Islamic State (ISIS) and their affiliates, estimated that the group has only around 100 operatives in Afghanistan.

Smith said that because of its limited size, al-Qaeda is currently serving as a “consulting service” for other regional terrorist groups, including Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The group is “giving them advice and training on things like covert operations and information security,” he added.

Al-Qaeda is currently led by Egyptian national Saif al-Adel, who received training at camps in Afghanistan but is reportedly hiding somewhere in Iran, according to unnamed officials.

Western intelligence agencies continue to monitor radicalized Islamists in the West who could be inspired to carry out “lone wolf” attacks against civilians in North America and Europe.