Taliban regularly consulted with al Qaeda during talks with the US: UN

Taliban regularly consulted with al Qaeda during talks with the US, according to UN sanctions monitors’ report.

Independent U.N. sanctions monitors report made public on Monday, Reuters reported.

Taliban regularly consulted with al Qaeda

As per UN’s monitors’ report, the “Taliban regularly consulted with al Qaeda during negotiations with the United States and offered guarantees that it would honor their historical ties.”

Despite talks between the Taliban and the U.S., Taliban, especially its Haqqani Network branch, and al Qaeda remain close.

The monitors report referred to the U.N. Security Council. It further stated the ties stemmed from friendship, intermarriage, shared struggle and ideological sympathy.

Under the Feb. 29 U.S.-Taliban deal that could pave the way toward a full withdrawal of foreign soldiers from Afghanistan, the Taliban promised to prevent al Qaeda from using Afghan soil to threaten the security of the United States and its allies.

The deal also committed the United States to reduce its military footprint in Afghanistan to 8,600 troops by mid-July – a level U.S. and NATO officials said it had nearly reached last week – and, conditions permitting, to zero by May 2021.

U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan to topple the Taliban in 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks that killed thousands of people.

According to U.S. charges, the Taliban had provided a safe haven in which al Qaeda planned the attacks.