After a weekend U.S. drone strike killed Ayman al-Zawahri, Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned the Taliban “grossly violated” the February 2020 Doha Settlement that led to the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan by sheltering the longtime al Qaeda chief and successor to Osama bin Laden.
By permitting al-Zawahri to dwell in a protected home within the coronary heart of downtown Kabul, the Taliban rulers reneged on their “repeated assurances” that they wouldn’t permit Afghan territory for use by terrorists intent on threatening the safety of different nations, Mr. Blinken mentioned Tuesday.
“Additionally they betrayed the Afghan individuals and their very own said want for recognition from and normalization with the worldwide group,” Mr. Blinken mentioned in an announcement. “Within the face of the Taliban’s unwillingness or incapability to abide by their commitments, we are going to proceed to help the Afghan individuals with strong humanitarian help and to advocate for the safety of their human rights, particularly ladies and women.”
A Taliban spokesman mentioned it was the U.S. that had violated the Doha pact negotiated by the Trump administration with the drone strike, saying they “strongly condemn” the assault that was launched by the CIA. Beneath the deal, the U.S. promised to withdraw its troops from the nation in change for Taliban guarantees that the federal government would crack down on terror teams akin to al Qaeda and Islamic State and never let the nation be used as a staging floor for assaults on the U.S.
The goal of the U.S. drone strike was a former Egyptian surgeon who helped coordinate the assaults on U.S. embassies in Africa in August 1998 and the Sept. 11, 2001, assaults on the U.S. that killed almost 3,000 individuals. Al-Zawahri had a $25 million bounty on his head.