Op-Ed: With the Taliban back in power and its Al Qaeda allies getting a new lease on life, the situation in Afghanistan will get worse before it gets better. (via latimesopinion)
Ayman Zawahiri in Kabul, Afghanistan, he had enjoyed much greater freedom of movement since the Taliban takeover of the country, a recent U.N. Monitoring Team report concluded. As a result, Zawahiri had released more frequent video messages. His “increased comfort and ability to communicate,”had “coincided with … the consolidation of power of key Al-Qaida allies” within the Taliban’s de facto administration.
The ultimate goal for groups like Al Qaeda or the Islamic State is to plan and execute a high-profile terrorist attack on western soil or against western targets. It is nearly impossible for a terrorist group to replicate an attack on the scale of the one on Sept. 11, 2001.
As Afghanistan becomes more of a permissive environment for terrorist groups, militants will have more bandwidth to meet, plot and plan attacks, perhaps attempting to encourage homegrown violent extremists in Europe or the United States to take action on their own while offering advice and preparatory planning tips.