Former Afghan Intel Chief Links Taliban's 2021 Nimroz Takeover to Jaish ul-Adl Support
Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of Afghan intelligence, has linked the Taliban's 2021 capture of Nimroz province to support from Jaish ul-Adl, a Sunni extremist group.
Nabil's statement came in response to a recent Jaish ul-Adl attack on an Iranian police centre in Sistan and Balochistan province, which resulted in the death of at least 12 policemen.
In a post on social platform X, Nabil stated, "In 2021, Jaish-ul-Adl fought in several provinces of Afghanistan to support the Afghan Taliban against the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan's security forces and overthrew the first province of Afghanistan in Nimroz." He also indirectly referenced the Islamic Republic of Iran's alleged support for the Taliban.
On 7 August 2021, just a week before Kabul's fall, Nabil had noted that despite ideological differences between Jaish al-Adl and the Afghan Taliban, Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency had dispatched around 600 Jaish-ul-Adl fighters with military equipment to aid the Taliban in various Afghan provinces.
Officials from the previous Afghan government have accused Iran of supporting the Taliban, alleging training, weaponry, and financial assistance for the group.
The attack on the police headquarters in Rask city of Sistan and Baluchistan by Jaish ul-Adl has heightened tensions, with Iranian officials asserting that the group operates from bases in Pakistan.
