Over 180 Dead in Recent Floods in Afghanistan, Says Taliban

According to Ahmadi, in some provinces, the former police and army camps, which had been built with American funds, are currently used as the joint educational center of al-Qaeda.

Earlier, Bill Roggio, the editor of Long War Journal had said that in Afghanistan and globally, al-Qaeda has a stronger position as compared to the era before 9/11. He had added that the terror organisation had only one major base in Afghanistan before 2001, but now it has bases all over the Middle East and Africa.

American officials had previously spoken about the possibility of the revival of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. In recent weeks, several American officials said that killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda in the heart of Kabul, has confirmed doubts about the strong ties between the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

On Thursday, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the presence of unmanned aircraft in the skies of Afghanistan in a press conference and said that this aircraft belongs to the US Air Force.

The spokesperson of the Taliban said that the group considers the US drones in Afghanistan air space as a continuity of "American aggression on Afghanistan" and stressed that the leaders of the group have raised this issue with American representatives.

It seems that the US military is now more focused on over-the-horizon counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan with a focus on the al-Qaeda group.

Local sources claim that the Taliban is conducting house-to-house search operations without any female official. According to witnesses, Taliban arrested residents of areas dominated by Tajik and Hazara ethnicity. It has been reported that search operations are more focused in Police District 4.

Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban’s spokesperson, had earlier said that the group has no intention of searching houses again. However, Taliban officials confirmed that these house-to-house searches in Balkh are being conducted in coordination with the intelligence directorate and the Taliban’s army.

The search operations started after Wednesday’s explosion, in which according to the Taliban, at least six people got injured.

Taliban has always attributed such attacks to the Islamic State-Khurasan (IS-K) and has called these search operations necessary in order to fight against the IS-K and collect weapons.

According to the sources, serious disagreements between the Taliban’s head and deputy of intelligence in the province have arisen and both sides have taken actions against each other.

This incident comes after an explosion occurred at 11am on Wednesday near the gate of Balkh in Mazar-i-Sharif city, sources told Afghanistan International.

Taliban confirmed the explosion and announced that six people had been injured in this incident.

No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion yet, even though IS-K has been claiming responsibility for such attacks.

Several days ago, the Taliban’s spokesperson said that the group is facing intelligence failures.

In some cases, Taliban officials have arrested residents of areas dominated by Tajik and Hazara ethnicity. According to the witnesses, in some of the houses, eight Taliban members entered the homes together.

It has been reported that the search operations are more focused in Police District 4 of Mazar-i-Sharif city.

Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban’s spokesperson, had earlier said that the group has no intention of searching houses again. However, Taliban officials confirmed that these house-to-house searches in Balkh are being conducted in coordination with the intelligence directorate and the Taliban’s army.

The search operations started after Wednesday’s explosion, in which according to the Taliban, at least six people got injured.

Taliban has always attributed such attacks to the Islamic State-Khurasan (IS-K) and has called these searches necessary in order to fight against the IS-K and collect weapons. Mujahid also claimed in the press conference that IS-K has been suppressed in Afghanistan.

Mukhmudov, who was speaking at the meeting of defense ministers of the member countries of SCO in Tashkent, emphasised that border surveillance with Afghanistan should be strengthened further.

At the Tashkent SCO meeting on Wednesday, defense ministers of the member countries expressed their concern about the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that with the active presence of Islamic State-Khurasan (IS-K) and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, religious radicalism is also on the rise across the region.

In the meeting, cooperation in defense, stability, and security among SCO members and the coordination of the member countries to deal with challenges and threats were discussed.

Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and India are permanent members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.