After Taliban's "victory" in Afghanistan, al Qaeda posted a congratulatory message in which it called for "armed jihad" to "liberate Palestine, Islamic Magreb, Somalia, Yemen and Kashmir from the enemies of Islam."
The US-designated terror group then said that just as Afghanistan was "liberated", Palestine should be "liberated from Zionist occupation and the Islamic Maghreb from French occupation," while also liberating "the Levant, Somalia, Yemen, Kashmir and the rest of the Islamic lands from the clutches of the enemies of Islam."
The message was distributed online by 'As Sahab', the media arm of al Qaeda, in both Arabic and English just hours after the last American soldier left Kabul, reported FDD's Long War Journal, an American news website.
Notably, the al-Qaeda statement was issued on Tuesday, the day when the head of Taliban's political office Sher Mohammed Stanakzai met with the Indian ambassador to Qatar Deepak Mittal in Doha at the Indian mission and assured that the Taliban will address the issues raised by the Indian side. Earlier also Taliban had said India is an important country and they want good economic relations with India.
In its two page statement, al-Qaeda congratulated all Islamic ummah (community) for Taliban's victory in Afghanistan. "On this historic occasion, we would like to offer our congratulations to the leadership of the Islamic Emirate, specifically Haibatullah Akhundzada," the al-Qaeda statement read.
It said that "It is time for you to prepare for the next stage of the struggle, the way for which has been paved by the victory of the defiant Afghan nation" adding that the "historic victory" in Afghanistan by the Taliban "will open the way for the Muslim masses to achieve liberation from the despotic rule of tyrants who have been imposed by the West on the Islamic World."
Al-Qaeda said it hoped that the Taliban's victory in Afghanistan will lead to additional victories for the "oppressed" around the world.
It also called on the Afghan nation to "unite around the blessed leadership of the Islamic Emirate -- a leadership that has over the years proven its sincerity and keenness to safeguard the interests of the masses and protect their religion, lives, and wealth."
"We call upon the Afghan nation to abide by the decisions and Shariah-based policies of the blessed Islamic Emirate," the statement read.
The al-Qaeda's leaders also said that it "soothed" their hearts to hear verses from the Quran recited in the "Presidential Palace" in Kabul.
"We praise the Almighty, the Ominpotent, who humiliated and defeated America, the head of disbelief," the statement reads. "We praise Him for breaking America's back, tarnishing its global reputation and expelling it, disgraced and humiliated, from the Islamic land of Afghanistan," the statement added.
According to a recent UN monitoring report, a significant part of the leadership of al-Qaida resides in the Afghanistan and Pakistan border region, alongside al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent. Large numbers of al-Qaida fighters and other foreign extremist elements aligned with the Taliban are located in various parts of Afghanistan.
As per the UN report, ties between the two groups remain close, relationships forged through common struggle and intermarriage. al-Qaida and like-minded militants continue to celebrate developments in Afghanistan as a victory for the Taliban's cause and thus for global radicalism, the report added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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