KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The National Resistance Front (NRF), an armed opposition group against the Taliban, has raised alarms about Al-Qaeda’s expanding presence in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, claiming that the group is actively training and recruiting fighters for future attacks.
“This year, Al-Qaeda has established eight new training and recruitment bases in Afghanistan,” said Ali Maisam Nazary, the NRF’s head of foreign relations, during a visit to Washington this week. “While the group was limited to a few areas in the 1990s, today it is present throughout the country.”
Nazary highlighted that the Taliban has allowed Al-Qaeda to gain a foothold in Afghanistan’s northern regions, suggesting that the regime’s control has facilitated the resurgence of various terrorist groups. Currently, at least 21 such groups are believed to be operating in the country.
“For the first time, Al-Qaeda is present in the Panjshir Valley,” Nazary added referring to the stronghold of the resistance group which has faced a severe crackdown by the Taliban since it was overrun in September 2021. Nazary noted that this was “impossible” for Al-Qaeda during the Taliban’s first rule.
The NRF, led by Ahmad Massoud—son of the late jihadi commander Ahmad Shah Massoud—is composed largely of former Afghan security forces. Along with another anti-Taliban group, the Afghanistan Freedom Front, they have engaged in deadly battles with the Taliban, particularly in the northern and northeastern provinces.
In recent months, these opposition groups have intensified their guerrilla attacks against the Taliban across several provinces, including Kabul. Nazary claimed that the NRF has carried out hundreds of attacks, targeting Taliban forces in more than 20 provinces, arguing that only military resistance can end the Taliban’s oppressive rule.
The NRF’s annual report states that between March 21, 2023 and March 18, 2024, its fighters killed or injured over 400 Taliban members.
Nazary mentioned that these warnings have been raised before by the younger Massoud, echoing those of his father, Ahmad Shah Massoud, who repeatedly cautioned the world in the 1990s about the dangers of the Taliban’s alliance with Al-Qaeda. When the world finally acted against the terror networks, it was too late—Ahmad Shah Massoud was assassinated by Al-Qaeda operatives just two days before the September 11 attacks, which claimed the lives of over 3,000 civilians in the U.S.
Three years after the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s return to power, there is a growing consensus that the country is once again becoming a hotbed of terrorist activity.
While the Taliban has repeatedly denied ties to terrorist groups or their presence, including Al-Qaeda, a UN report last year revealed increasing connections with such organizations. Al-Qaeda, the report noted, maintains a close relationship with the Taliban and has infiltrated the Taliban’s institutions with the support of high-ranking officials.
The report also highlighted that Al-Qaeda is using Afghanistan as a base for recruiting new fighters and “covertly rebuilding its external operations capability.”
Nazary further claimed that the Taliban has provided passports to foreign fighters, and the country is now facing a black market for weapons, including many of American origin.
Sayf al-Adl, a 63-year-old Egyptian, succeeded Ayman al-Zawahiri as the leader of Al-Qaeda after Zawahiri was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul in July 2022. Al-Adl is on the FBI’s most-wanted list, with a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest, alongside Taliban interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani.
The NRF official called for international support to combat transnational terrorist groups in Afghanistan, including Al-Qaeda.
“We need the cooperation of the international community to effectively challenge them,” Nazary said, urging the world to “rethink” its policies on Afghanistan.
