Man behind Taliban-Al Qaeda nexus: Osama’s former bodyguard returns to Afghanistan, out of hiding after a decade
In a development that has got experts worried, Amin-Ul-Haq, Osama Bin Laden’s bodyguard and security in-charge who was in hiding for over 10 years, has resurfaced and reportedly reached Afghanistan.
According to a report in India Today, Haq is now a key figure for the Taliban. He had been away from public eye ever since his release from a Pakistani jail in 2011 where he spent three years.
Videos that emerged on Social media on Tuesday showed that Haq has returned to his native Nangarhar province in Afghanistan following the fall of Kabul. As he reached his hometown accompanied by a large convoy of heavily armed Taliban men, and was greeted by a cheering crowd that shook hands with him and welcomed him.
Dr. Amin-ul-Haq, a major al-Qaeda player in Afghanistan, Osama Bin Laden security in charge in Tora Bora, returns to his native Nangarhar province after it fell to the Taliban. Dr. Amin became close to OBL in the 80s when he worked with Abdullah Azzam in Maktaba Akhidmat. pic.twitter.com/IXbZeJ0nZE— BILAL SARWARY (@bsarwary) August 30, 2021
News18 Cannot independently verify the authenticity of these videos.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan government on Wednesday called itself a “custodian” of Taliban leaders and accepted that Islamabad provided shelter and education to the Taliban insurgents in its country.
On a TV show, Pakistan interior minister Sheikh Rashid openly accepted that Imran Khan-led Pakistan government has done everything for Taliban leaders, who are back in power in Afghanistan after 20 years.
“We are custodian of Taliban leaders. We have taken care of them for long. They got shelter, education and home in Pakistan. We have done everything for them,” Rashid said while speaking on Hum News programme ‘Breaking Point with Malick’.
Earlier, CNN-News18 had confirmed the Pakistan ISI’s heavy involvement in the deliberations between the Taliban and the Pakistan government. Exclusive photos accessed by CNN-News18 showed ISI Chief Hameed Faiz meeting top Taliban leaders in Kandahar.
CNN-News18 had previously reported that Pakistan is set to play a major role in the formation of a new government in Kabul.
The Taliban insurgents swept Kabul on August 15 after the US-backed Afghan government collapsed and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, bringing an unprecedented end to a two-decade campaign in which the US and its allies had tried to transform the war-ravaged nation.
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