A newly-released report for the UN Security Council reveals al-Qaeda have returned to Afghanistan and re-established suicide bomber training camps.

The Afghan Taliban are  paying monthly allowances to al-Qaeda fighters, while, those with al-Qaeda links now hold significant government posts, including the governors of at least two Afghan provinces, and the deputy director of Afghanistan’s intelligence directorate.    

However, a specific risk to Pakistani Christians comes from the fact that al-Qaeda have now re-established training camps in Eastern Afghanistan where suicide bombers are being schooled. Among those attending such camps are members of the Tehrik—i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), more commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban.  This is a grouping which has repeatedly targeted Christians in Pakistan – including the 2013 suicide bombing of All Saints Church in Peshawar which killed more than 120 Christians and wounded around 250 others. The group also claimed responsibility for the 2016 bombing of the Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park in Lahore, where large numbers of Christians were celebrating Easter, which left more than 70 dead and injured hundreds more.

The UN report noted that “Al-Qaida members trained and supplied ideological guidance to TTP fighters in suicide bomber training camps in Kunar Province” (Afghanistan). The Pakistani Taliban is estimated to have between 4-6,000 fighters in Afghanistan, which is effectively providing it with a safe haven from which to attack targets in Pakistan.

A few weeks ago a report published by the Pakistan based Pak Institute for Peace Studies found that since the Taliban seizure of power in August 2021, there had been a dramatic 73 percent increase in the number of terrorist attacks in Pakistan and a 138 percent increase in the number of people killed. Most attacks were in the provinces bordering Afghanistan.

The emergence of these al-Qaeda training camps in eastern Afghanistan is a significant and dangerous development. One of the primary justifications for the 2001 Western military interventions in Afghanistan was the presence of al-Qaeda training camps there, from where the 9/11 attacks on the USA were planned. The main part of the 2020 agreement between the US government and the Taliban was that US forces would withdraw from Afghanistan in return for the Taliban guaranteeing that foreign terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda would not be allowed in Afghanistan.

This has happened because, as far as the Taliban are concerned, Islamic theology does not allow a permanent peace treaty with non-Islamic nations. It merely allows a temporary truce. This is based on the ‘pact of Hudabiya’ in 628 CE where Muhammad, who then lacked the military strength to conquer Mecca agreed a 10 year truce with the Meccans. However, less than two years later he conquered Mecca.  As this is part of the Sunna – the example of what Muhammad said and did, the Taliban regard it as paradigmatic for their relations with non-Islamic countries.

It is the failure of Western countries to understand this which has led to the re-emergence of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. The re-establishment of al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan – something which has not existed since the western military intervention in 2001- now poses a specific threat to several million Christians in Pakistan, particularly in locations such as Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province which borders Afghanistan, where Christians have previously been targeted by the Pakistani Taliban.

To view the Lindisfarne Country profile on Afghanistan click HERE