What is the relationship between the Taliban and Tahrir al-Sham?
Author: Mohammad Djorkshani, Jomhor News Agency
With the fall of the important city of Aleppo (Halab) to the terrorist group Tahrir al-Sham, Taliban members and supporters congratulated the terrorists and expressed their joy by sending messages and writing texts. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham also uses the Taliban flag and even raises it over the citadel of Aleppo after capturing the city.
What are the signs of the Taliban's connection with Tahrir al-Sham?
The first question is the closeness between the Taliban and al-Qaeda, which continues to this day. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is an extension of the Jabhat al-Nusra Front, which is an offshoot of al-Qaeda and still has its ideological ties.
In its recent campaign, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham managed to break the ranks of the Khan Toman, Saraqib, and finally Aleppo defense forces and take these cities. They were helped by East Turkestan fighters such as the Uzbeks and Uyghurs who entered the war.
These forces, which number in the thousands, are among the most experienced fighting forces among the Shamat terrorists (Shamat is a region in Southwest Asia, including the modern countries of Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Cyprus, parts of southern Turkey, and eastern Egypt - "Sangar"). Tajik fighters should also be added to this group. All of these groups, being allies of the Taliban, have been fighting alongside the Taliban against the Afghan National Army and the people for many years.
Regional countries, including Russia, China, and Central Asia, have repeatedly been concerned about the presence of East Turkestan, Tajik, and Uyghur terrorist groups within the Taliban and their alliance with the Taliban group, and have asked the Taliban to eliminate or weaken them.
After the Taliban's victory, some of these groups still live under the Taliban banner, but some of these fighters have moved to terrorist-controlled areas of Shamat.
This militant group, led by Mohammad al-Jolani, which controls Latakia, Homa, Aleppo, and about half of Idlib province, is advancing towards other areas under Kurds and Syrian government control.
Al-Jolani's group has previously been a strong supporter of the Taliban and has expressed joy at the establishment of a Taliban government in Afghanistan.
Another important issue in the evidence of the relationship between the Taliban and Tahrir al-Sham is the middleman between the two groups, the Turkish government. Training, logistics, weapons, information, and combat support for the Al-Jolani terrorists are provided by Turkey. As supporters of Tahrir al-Sham, the Turks have very good relations with the Taliban. It seems that the Turks have managed to improve the relations of the Taliban with Tahrir al-Sham.
Turkey supported General Dostum and the Uzbeks under his leadership during the Republican government, but now they officially support the Uzbek factions within the Taliban. In addition to supporting the Uzbek Taliban, Turkey now keeps General Dostum under house arrest in Ankara. Turks do not allow him and those around him to do any activities, even deport some of his people. This is a big turn by Turkey towards the Taliban. This hypocritical government does not allow even other political leaders of the Afghan jihad living in Turkey to show even the slightest political activity.
The relations, which until the end of the existence of the Republican government reached a verbal war with the Taliban, have now turned into the strongest ties between Turkey and the Taliban. What could be the reason for such a turn, except for the cooperation of the Taliban with Turkey in a political, terrorist, and ideological project, to which, by the way, the Taliban is also very committed?
We cannot even deny the direct presence of Pashtun militants in the ranks of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. If you have noticed, the Taliban very accurately reports hourly on the situation in the war zones of Syria. However, so far they have not been very interested in the war in Gaza and Lebanon. The Taliban members react to the developments in Syria. This contains and indicates their connection with the terrorist fronts of the war in Syria.
Another important issue that should not be ignored is that the Taliban also seeks to export their terrorist model and experience and is ready to spread their jihadist ideology throughout the territory outside Afghanistan, especially in Shamata and beyond. Many of us, as observers and those who have suffered from the religious policies of the Taliban, are not aware of this. The Taliban poses a danger beyond the imagination of those who until now considered them part of the axis of resistance and the real movement of the region.
The main reason why the Taliban supports terrorist groups in Latakia and Idlib is their adherence to the ideas of takfirism and hatred of Shiites. The Taliban hates the Shiites. They cannot tolerate the influence of the Shiites and the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Middle East. Therefore, they do not think that strong Shiites and a powerful Iran are playing into their hands. The Taliban can easily send troops to Turkey and Latakia.
In addition, they have a common opinion about ISIS. Abu Mohammad al-Jolani says exactly what the Taliban says about ISIS. Both groups consider ISIS an American project that is destructive to their ideology. This issue also connects both groups.
If the above cases are not true, let the Taliban issue a refutation.
In any case, the Taliban should be considered a serious terrorist threat that undermines collective security. A group with its ideology, takfiri ideas, adventures, and ambitions. Those who make the mistake of recognizing the Taliban will certainly suffer.
