As if the misery of those seeking refuge at Kabul airport wasn’t bad enough, they were now the target of a devastating attack. The bloody act is another humiliation for the West – and an embarrassment for the Taliban, the new rulers in Afghanistan.
Thousands of people seeking protection, huddled at the entrance gates of Kabul Airport. US soldiers securing the airport. Chaos at the gates that makes effective security almost impossible. For days there have been exceptionally concrete warnings that the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia could plan an attack in this explosive situation. “We know that the terror threats have intensified massively, that they have become much more specific,” said Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on Thursday. A few hours later, the warnings become deadly reality.
According to the US Department of Defense, two IS suicide bombers blew themselves up, followed by terrorist militia fighters. Dozens of people are killed – more than 60 according to official figures – including at least twelve US soldiers. It is the first since February of last year to be violently killed in Afghanistan. The US broadcaster CNN shows TV images of blood-soaked Afghans being brought to safety by helpers on wheelbarrows.
Afghanistan: No end of violence in sight
The Taliban won the war after 20 years, the West is withdrawing. But the attack shows that you do not have control of the country. This does not mean an end to violence for the Afghans. “A pool of blood. Corpses in a sewer. Afghanistan continues to bleed. Destroyed families. The neverending tragedy for the people of Afghanistan,” writes the Afghan journalist Bilal Sarwari about a terrible mobile phone video that he shared on Twitter after the attack.
The bloodbath takes place even though the evacuation mission in Kabul is nearing its end. As early as next Tuesday, the US wants to have withdrawn all soldiers from Afghanistan. The last planned evacuation flights by the German armed forces left Kabul shortly before the attack. The US armed forces stressed on Thursday that they will not let ISIS stop them from completing their mission as planned. The French also want to continue evacuation flights.
Taliban “strongly condemn this gruesome incident”
A few hours after the bloody act, IS-Khorasan – the local branch of the terrorist militia – claimed the attack at the airport for itself. IS calls the region “Khorasan Province”, which includes both Afghan and Pakistani territory. The Americans, who speak of Isis instead of IS, therefore refer to the branch as Isis-K. The militant Islamist Taliban are not radical enough for the IS fighters in Afghanistan. The two groups are enemies and have fought openly in the past. ISIS has repeatedly carried out serious attacks in Afghanistan.
Thursday’s attack is a message to the world, but also an embarrassment for the Taliban, who are unable to ensure security in the capital after they have come to power. The US armed forces do not believe that the militant Islamist Taliban had a hand in it. The Taliban also wanted the foreign troops to leave the country by August 31, says US General Kenneth McKenzie, who heads the US Central Command Centcom, after the attack. “So we share a common goal.” A Taliban spokesman said on Thursday: “We condemn this gruesome incident in the strongest possible terms and will do everything we can to bring those guilty to justice.”
Taliban victory later triumph for al Qaeda
The attack is also another humiliation for the West: After 20 years of service, the soldiers and their Afghan helpers are not even safe when they leave. That makes the failure in Afghanistan, the first scene of the “war on terror” that US President George W. Bush proclaimed after the attacks of September 11, 2001, all the more bitter. Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden ordered the terrorist attacks from Afghanistan, which led to US military operations and the overthrow of the Taliban. The Taliban and the Al Qaeda terror network – that is the story of a long and close partnership.
The Taliban’s victory is also a late triumph of al Qaeda, just before the 20th anniversary of the attacks. “From the organization’s point of view, this proves that its strategy has worked,” says Guido Steinberg, terrorism expert at the Berlin-based Science and Politics Foundation (SWP). “Al Qaeda has taken power together with the Taliban.”
Al Qaeda has not disappeared from Afghanistan
US President Joe Biden justifies the withdrawal from Afghanistan primarily with the fact that al Qaeda no longer threatens the USA from there. But the terror network from Afghanistan has not disappeared. A June report by the UN Security Council said al Qaeda was still present in at least 15 of the 34 Afghan provinces. “The Taliban remain closely linked to al Qaeda and show no signs of a break in relations.” A significant part of the organization’s leadership is in the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan – and is striving to maintain its “safe haven”.
Experts see the Taliban advance as an enormous propaganda success for the jihad movement all over the world. Supporters of radical and violent groups feel confirmed in their view that they will be victorious over the “infidels” in the West if they persevere long enough. “This is a wake-up call for the global jihadist movement,” warns Steinberg.
How credible are the Taliban?
The Taliban assert that they will not allow Al Qaeda or any other group to launch attacks from Afghanistan. How credible is this commitment? It is currently difficult for the terror network to carry out attacks outside the region, says Steinberg. For him, a scenario is also conceivable in which the Taliban try to stop attacks abroad. According to Steinberg, this does not mean the all-clear: “Even if the Taliban act moderately overall, there is a growing risk that the more radicals will not adhere to the guidelines,” he says. After all, there is a strong jihadist current within the Taliban. Their goal is clear: they want to carry their struggle to other regions of the world.
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