Al-Qaeda ‘ready for bloody wave of terror attacks on US & UK’ as terrorists regroup in Taliban controlled Afghanistan
AL-QAEDA could rekindle its former bases in Afghanistan to plot atrocities against Britain and America within two years as the jihadis regroup, US spy chiefs have warned.
A month after the Taliban seized power in Kabul,the CIA said there are signs the terror group once led by 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden are returning to the country.
Al-Qaeda were vanquished from the country after the 2001 invasion that followed the 9/11 attacks and which toppled the Taliban that had been providing the terrorists with a safe haven.
But now with the religious fanatics back in charge following the shambolic withdrawal of US led forces, the group is said to be returning.
Speaking at an intelligence summit outside of Washington, CIA deputy director David Cohen said: “We are already beginning to see some of the indications of some potential movement of al-Qaeda to Afghanistan.
“We will obviously keep a very close eye on that.”
Edmund Fitton-Brown, coordinator of the United Nations team that monitors the Islamist terror groups, said: “There’s no doubt that the chatter is about this.”
It comes as Professor Anthony Glees, from the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham, grimly warned of the return of the infamous terrorist training camps that once dotted Afghanistan.
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Prof Glees told the Sun Online: “I am sure the training of jihadists will resume and I’d not be surprised if the first recruits to the training camps don’t begin to make their way to Afghanistan.
“What’s more, precisely because we seem to be retreating, and seem to be agreeing the Taliban has won, we will encourage them to strike at us again.”
The expert also said US president Joe Biden made “entirely the wrong decision” by swiftly withdrawing, with consequences “for all Western states”.
He said: “We seem weak, and that’s the last thing we should be doing. We are not strong enough to be there without the USA.”
We are already beginning to see some of the indications of some potential movement of al-Qaeda to Afghanistan
David Cohen
Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Scott Berrier, the US defence intelligence agency director, said: “The current assessment, probably conservatively, is one to two years for al-Qaeda to build some capability to at least threaten the homeland.”
A working paper by the Overseas Development Institute, a London think tank, said that the Taliban had built up personal connections over the years with al-Qaeda members.
It said: “The Taliban’s ‘we can control them’ narrative can either be read as dangerously overconfident or disingenuous and deceptive.”
PROPAGANDA VIDEO
Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri has appeared in a gloating video released on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 atrocity — despite reports he died last year.
The propaganda video has been shared as America marked 20 years since 3,000 people were slaughtered after terrorists hijacked airlines smashed into the Twins Towers in New York and the Pentagon, Washington DC.
Al-Zawahiri — sometimes dubbed Dr Death — last appeared in a video message for the group on the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
Osama bin Laden who was shot in the head in front of his screaming wife during a dramatic raid by US Special Forces in the early hours of May 2, 2011.
The mass murderer and his group forged a close alliance with the Taliban when the fanatics last ruled Afghanistan, which they used as a base for launching a series of terror attacks on US targets, culminating in the September 11 onslaught.
The Taliban refused an American demand to hand over bin Laden, prompting US forces to enter Afghanistan and drive them from power with the help of the Northern Alliance of local warlords.
The Taliban refused an American demand to hand over bin Laden, prompting US forces to enter Afghanistan and drive them from power with the help of the Northern Alliance of local warlords.
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