Washington Post: al-Qaeda Has Established at Least 8 Training Centers in Afghanistan

DID Press: US and Western intelligence reports indicate that al-Qaeda, 25 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, has once again expanded its training and organizational activities in Afghanistan.

According to a report by The Washington Post, al-Qaeda and affiliated branches have established at least eight training centers in Afghanistan over the past three years and have used the Taliban’s return to power to strengthen their presence and activities. The Post’s latest reporting says al-Qaeda is again operating training camps in Afghanistan, citing U.S. and Western intelligence officials and a United Nations organization that monitors terrorist networks.

U.S. and Western intelligence officials, as well as a UN body monitoring terrorist networks, said al-Qaeda currently has active training facilities in Afghanistan.

Reports indicate that the planning of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks also took shape in camps and compounds in Afghanistan, locations that were used for years as centers for training and preparing terrorist operatives.

The developments come as the United States and its allies have conducted extensive military and counterterrorism operations over the past decades aimed at eliminating al-Qaeda bases in Afghanistan.

However, the latest intelligence indicates that following the Taliban’s return to power, al-Qaeda has once again been able to rebuild part of its training and operational capacity in Afghanistan.

The renewed expansion of al-Qaeda’s activities in Afghanistan could increase concerns over the use of Afghan territory by terrorist groups for training, organization and cross-border operations.