CIA deputy director wrongly claims the Taliban is combatting Al Qaeda

Bill Roggio

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In the latest effort by US officials to simp for the Taliban, David Cohen, the deputy director of the CIA, claims the Taliban has “taken on the effort to combat” Al Qaeda. Cohen is wrong, of course, as there have been exactly zero reported Taliban operations targeting Al Qaeda’s network in Afghanistan. In fact, all available evidence shows that the Taliban’s ties to Al Qaeda have increased dramatically since the US withdrawal in August 2021.

Cohen made the outrageous claim at “a national security conference in Rockville, Maryland,” according to NBC News. He also said the CIA has kept in communication with the Taliban as it now rules Afghanistan, reminding the group of its commitment to ensure the country does not again become a staging ground for terrorist attacks abroad: “We have been engaging with them, all throughout this period, in various ways, as they have taken on the effort to combat both Al Qaeda and ISIS-K,” Cohen said[.] “And so this isn’t a 'mission accomplished' sort of thing. But it is worth noting that in Afghanistan today, the dire predictions have not come to pass,” he said.

Now, it is true that the Taliban battles the Islamic State (IS), as the two are mortal enemies. IS demands that the Taliban swear allegiance to its caliph and join its caliphate-building program, but the Taliban refuses.