The Taliban‘s recent comments casting doubt about the late Osama bin Laden‘s role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks are just one of many questionable claims to come from an extremist group that has sought to project a more progressive image in the media since taking control of the government in Afghanistan.
Since the Taliban takeover of the capital of Kabul on Aug. 15, the group has attempted to maintain an image that stands in contrast to the barbaric events that took place under the group’s rule between 1996 and 2001. Many Afghans have raised concerns that the return of Taliban control will bring back harsh impositions of law, such as the death penalty for female adultery, homosexuality, or the rejection of Islam.
On Wednesday, Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, claimed there “was no proof” bin Laden was involved in the terrorist attacks on U.S. soil 20 years ago, adding that it was an “excuse for war.”
Bin Laden’s intent and motivation to attack the United States have long been documented, with recorded messages dating back to 2004 showing the former al Qaeda leader admitting that he ordered 19 plane hijackers to apprehend four U.S. commercial aircraft to crash into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
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The Taliban have also promised that the rights of women in Afghanistan will be respected “within the framework of Islamic law,” Mujahid said on Aug. 17. The claim was shut down by British Home Secretary Priti Patel, who said it was hard to believe “the PR operation that we’re currently seeing.”
“I genuinely do not think that we should be at all believing the spokespeople or the PR operation that we’re currently seeing,” Patel told the BBC last week.
Recent comments have thrown the Taliban’s promises into question, in particular their plans for female autonomy.
“If [women] go to school, the office, university, or the hospital, they don’t need a mahram,” Mujahid said in an Aug. 25 interview with the New York Times. In the same interview, Mujahid said that under Taliban rule, music would be outlawed, explaining, “Music is forbidden in Islam, but we’re hoping that we can persuade people not to do such things instead of pressuring them.”
Despite the militant group’s additional claims promising “amnesty” for people who were aligned with the U.S.-backed government, the United Nations’s human rights chief said on Aug. 24 that she received credible reports of “summary executions” of civilians and Afghan security forces who surrendered.
Dozens of people died at the Hamid Karzai International Airport on Thursday, including 11 U.S. Marines and a Navy medic, from two terrorist attack bombs. Mujahid later released a statement condemning the attack on behalf of the Taliban.
It is not immediately clear how the two explosions will affect the U.S. military’s noncombatant evacuation operation, though President Joe Biden has previously held firm to his self-imposed deadline for Tuesday. U.S. and coalition forces have worked to evacuate more than 100,000 people from the airport, which was the location of the bombings on Thursday.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that 4,500 American citizens in Afghanistan had been among those evacuees on Wednesday, adding that there were approximately 1,500 remaining in the Taliban-controlled country. Biden and various administration officials have said all Americans who want to leave will be able to, but it’s unclear if the explosion will change the military’s mission.
