DND Report: Taliban-Haqqani networking receives around 10 to 30 USD million from the United States, which has been unknown and untracked even by US lawmakers such as Tim Burchett and global watchdogs such as the Transatlantic Intelligence Consortium.
AQ2.0 on X (previously known as Twitter) raised the issue recently. It claimed that the US Congress is not passing a bill to stop the money flowing to terrorists (Taliban/Haqqani Network/al-Qaeda) in Afghanistan and that the USG broke the law and has been financing terrorists. AQ2.0 claims that it tracks the most sophisticated terrorist organizations that can deceive the world.
https://x.com/trackingaq/status/1882390886761247163?s=48&t=G-cOBg7EkX_kBYa6eWDKdw
In a story narrated by AQ2.0, it claimed that there are two separate cash packages on US flights to Afghanistan weekly. One package which contains USD 40 million, belongs to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan – UNAMA
The other package is an additional – “secret” money (it has never been admitted publicly by the USG) which is aimed to support the West’s new counter-terrorism “partners” – namely the Taliban/Haqqani Network. This package contains various amounts of money, between $10-$30/week. This money is supposed to cover the costs of the Taliban/Haqqani Network’s ridiculous counter-terrorism operations against ISKP
After unpacking the cargo – both money packages are loaded into cars. The $40 million UNAMA money is dropped to the Afghan Central Bank – the whole procedure, from unloading this package from a US plane to depositing this part of the money shipment, is supervised by UNAMA staff members
A small part of the secret money goes to the GDI HQ but the other parts of it are delivered to Taliban/Haqqani Network members – the whole procedure, from unloading this secret money from a US plane to deposit in the GDI HQ, is not supervised by any US government staff member
Many of these Taliban members are under UN sanctions, including Sirajuddin Haqqani who is additionally under Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanction as well. The OFAC administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on US foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries and regimes, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other threats to the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States.”
AQ2.0 in past also claimed that in 2022, Hamza bin Laden (son of Osama bin Laden’ also known as OBL) returned to Afghanistan, for joining forces with Sirajuddin Haqqani to advance OBL’s original vision for unifying global jihadi factions. After the Taliban’s rise to power, Hamza and Sirajuddin began inviting leaders from Al-Qaeda branches -AQAP, AQIM, AQIS, among others – as well as affiliated groups like Al-Shabaab, Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP), and Abu Sayyaf. Al-Qaeda’s military operations head, Saif al-Adl, issued a statement calling for all those dedicated to jihad to join them in Afghanistan. Haqqani extended an invitation to IS-Khorasan (ISK) leaders, including Gulmurod Khalimov (presumed dead in 2018, but reportedly active in Afghanistan) and Sanaullah Ghafari, the ISK Emir. Haqqani had originally sent Ghafari as an emissary to ISIS in 2015, ensuring an alliance that strengthened the ISK-Haqqani link. Upon Ghafari’s return and the death of ISK’s acting leader, the council selected him as the new Emir, effectively placing ISK operations under Haqqani’s influence. Their immediate focus lies on “priority countries” with unstable governance: Somalia, Yemen, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Syria, Iraq, and Pakistan.
It has been reported by Western media in the past that the Haqqani Network, the Kandahari Taliban, and Al-Qaeda operate over 30 training camps across Afghanistan, many situated in former U.S. and NATO bases. These facilities, overseen by Abdallah bin Laden, Osama’s eldest son, train up to 30,000 fighters monthly, equipping them in urban warfare, explosives, small arms, and tactical operations. Well-protected by Taliban forces and equipped with shooting ranges, fitness centers, and housing for thousands, these camps represent an unprecedented training ground for global jihadi fighters.
Related Story: US swapped Afghan drug baron for two citizens
In an article titled “Diverging Alliances in a polarised geopolitical landscape” published in Express Tribune, the writer said that a part of the Western ‘War against Terror’ in Afghanistan though, Pakistan was outright betrayed by the West with the signing of a secret deal involving Ashraf Ghani, the Taliban, and the US. Even after the Taliban takeover of Kabul, the US kept secretly funding the Taliban to pressure Pakistan to tilt back into its sphere of influence just to tackle Iran and China. The current Afghanistan-Pakistan situation can be deciphered with this lens.
The question arises as to whether these developments paint the hidden sketch of 9/11 and the so-called War on Terror. Was it all fixed among Washington—Taliban and OBL to drain billions of taxpayers’ dollars to support the war industry, spread islamophobia, make lives of Muslims unlivable in the West, and radicalize Pakistan’s already semi-radicalized society or does it have more factors that are yet not be deciphered?
