Taliban Signed Cooperation Agreement With Al-Qaeda, Other Militants Before Coming To Power

Before returning to power in Afghanistan, the Taliban signed an agreement with the Pakistani Taliban, al-Qaeda and other foreign fighters.

According to the agreement, the Taliban pledged to support foreign fighters in "jihad" and the establishment of a Sharia system in Pakistan after their victory.

A source close to the Pakistani Taliban told Afghanistan International that Sirajuddin Haqqani signed the agreement with leaders of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), al-Qaeda commanders, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, leader of the Ittehadul Mujahideen Shura of North Waziristan, Maulvi Sadiq Noor Dawar and some other Taliban leaders in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan.

Haqqani was the deputy of Mullah Hibatullah, the leader of the Taliban at the time. The Taliban's agreement with foreign groups and fighters is known as the "Mir Ali Agreement".

The source added that after Pakistan's airstrikes on its militants in April 2022 in Spera District, Khost Province, Taliban Defence Minister Yaqoob Mujahid summoned Pakistani Taliban leaders, including Hafiz Gul Bahadur, and asked them to stop their attacks in Pakistan.

However, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who has supported the Haqqani Network and al-Qaeda in North Waziristan for years, showed Mullah Yaqoob the Mir Ali Accord document, which emphasised on the Afghan Taliban's support for these foreign militants.

Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of supporting Pakistani militants over the past three years. However, the Afghan Taliban has denied these accusations and said that Afghan soil is not used against neighbouring and foreign countries. However, the Mir Ali Agreement shows that the Afghan Taliban actively supports the Pakistani Taliban.

The agreement was signed because foreign militants, especially the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), fought alongside the Afghan Taliban against the former Afghan government, NATO, and US forces to revive the Taliban regime. In the agreement, the Taliban pledged to reciprocate cooperation with foreign fighters and jihadi militants from other countries.

‘Transporting Militants From Kabul’

Another source told Afghanistan International that after the death of former al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, Sirajuddin Haqqani and Yaqoob Mujahid asked foreign fighters to move to remote areas, where they are away from domestic and international surveillance.

They no longer considered Kabul safe for foreign fighters, al-Qaeda leaders and TTP commanders.

"Hafiz Gul Bahadur went from Shakardara in Kabul province to the border areas of Barmal district in Paktika and Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, who lived in an area in Khairkhana in Kabul until recently, went to Kunar province," the source added.

In June 2023, the United Nations Security Council announced in a report that the killing of al-Zawahiri in Kabul has caused mistrust among some members of the Taliban.

Some of them believed that al-Zawahiri's whereabouts had been reported to the United States by the group's internal forces. The presence of the al-Qaeda leader in Kabul worried some Taliban leaders, especially the Doha negotiators, because they had pledged in the Doha agreement not to turn Afghanistan into a haven for global terrorists again.

Sources in Afghanistan International say that Mullah Baradar told Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban's interior minister, in a meeting, "By sheltering Ayman al-Zawahiri, you proved me a liar to the international community. But Sirajuddin Haqqani replied that al-Zawahiri's residence in Kabul was provided with the consent of Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada."

‘Uyghur Fighters Transferred To Herat’

According to Afghanistan International's investigation, al-Qaeda has transferred some of its members to the provinces of Logar, Helmand, Nuristan, Kunar, Zabul, Herat and Farah. Uyghur fighters of the East Turkestan Movement have also been sent to Shindand district of Herat province due to China's sensitivities.

In May 2022, the Taliban government proposed at Pakistan's request that TTP members be transferred from Afghanistan's border areas to the north, Logar and Ghazni, but the TTP did not consider these areas suitable for its activities.

Another source told Afghanistan International that the Taliban's interior minister promised foreign fighters that roads and houses would be built for them, and that these areas would be connected to centres. Based on this commitment, roads were built between the border areas of Pasa Mila Paktika and Dowa Manda district of Khost province, Spera district of Khost province and the Madakhil area of Paktika.

Sources close to the TTP said that the Taliban government had asked TTP leader Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud to refrain from appearing in public, but he replied, "The sun cannot be hidden with two fingers."

According to sources, the Taliban government has banned leaders and commanders of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups from giving interviews to the media and appearing in cities.

Mir Ali's agreement has become a major problem for the Taliban government after coming to power, as it has now become difficult for them to control internal and external fighters.