Afghan Security Forces Kill Al-Qaeda Leader, Accuse Taliban of Harboring Him

Continuing weeks of the narrative that the Afghan government is pushing that the Taliban is providing safe haven to al-Qaeda in spite of the US deal forbidding that, the Afghan NDS claimed they’d killed a non-specific al-Qaeda leader in Farah.

This is just the latest of repeated allegations. The Taliban has said repeatedly that it is not true, but they did promise to investigate the issue. The US has not commented one way or another on the matter.

Since the Taliban promised in the US deal to cut al-Qaeda ties, the Afghan government seems to hope proving they didn’t would undermine the deal. At the same time, the Taliban investigation suggests they are open to the possibility that their own followers who weren’t in favor of the deal are trying to undermine it behind the leadership’s back.

This only really matters to the extent they can convince the US of the allegation, and that the US chooses to act on it. With the US having cut most of their troops, the signs are that they aren’t necessarily looking for an excuse to back out of peace.