“Twenty years ago, [George W.] Bush declared the end of the Taliban … but the Taliban were patient and did jihad,” Abdul Razzaq Mahdi, a prominent jihadi cleric based in Syria’s opposition areas, declared on his social media channel Monday.
“So, men of Syria! Rely on God, unify your ranks and have the Taliban as your example.”
Whether it’s Al Qaeda affiliates in Mali and Somalia, extremist factions operating in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, or so-called keyboard warriors cheering on from their homes in the West, the Taliban’s victory over Afghanistan’s Western-created government “is the most significant boost to the global jihadist movement since Sept. 11,” said Rita Katz, the founder of SITE Intelligence, an extremist monitoring group.
“Almost every corner of the community — particularly those supportive of the Taliban and Al Qaeda — see the U.S.’s withdrawal and Taliban’s subsequent takeover of Afghanistan as a revival of the jihad started by [Osama] bin Laden,” she said, referring to the onetime head of Al Qaeda and mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, which triggered the U.S.’s entanglement in Afghanistan in the first place.
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