Afghanistan’s Taliban government seized on a comment by Biden to argue that there was no al-Qaeda threat in the country.
A reporter asked Biden on Friday as he was leaving a press conference about the US Supreme Court’s decision to block his student debt relief program if he had made mistakes during the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“No, no. All the evidence is coming back,” he replied, according to a White House transcript.
“Do you remember what I said about Afghanistan? I said al-Qaeda would not be there. I said it wouldn’t be there. I said we’d get help from the Taliban. What’s happening now? What’s going on? Read your press. I was right.”
According to a report released on Friday, US officials were hindered by a lack of transparent decision-making, centralized crisis management, and confusing public messaging during mass evacuations from Afghanistan in 2021.
The alleged After Activity Survey was requested by Secretary of State Antony Blinken after shock over the tumultuous scenes in Kabul as Taliban contenders held onto control following the finish of the 20-year US military presence.
On Saturday, the Afghan service of international concerns held onto Biden’s remark.
The ministry said, “We consider remarks by US President Joe Biden about the non-existence of armed groups in Afghanistan as acknowledgement of reality.”
“It refutes the recent report by UN Sanctions Monitoring Team alleging the pres-ence & operation of over twenty armed groups in Afghanistan.”
A United Nations report stated in May that there were signs that armed groups like al-Qaeda were rebuilding the country.
“The link between the Taliban and both al-Qaeda and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) remains strong and symbiotic,” it said.
“A range of terrorist groups have greater freedom of maneuver under the Taliban de facto authorities. They are making good use of this, and the threat of terrorism is rising in both Afghanistan and the region.”
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The Taliban rulers of Afghanistan deny the existence of al-Qaeda and insist that they do not permit armed groups plotting against other nations to use the country’s soil.
They claim they are still investigating the incident in which al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed by a US drone strike in central Kabul last year, but they have not acknowledged the killing.
