25 Years After 9/11, Al Qaeda Still Has a Home in Afghanistan

The New York Times ^ | Sept 10, 2026 | By Elian Peltier Photographs by Tomás Munita

[Cronos]

Twenty five years ago, Osama bin Laden led the planning of Al Qaeda’s attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, from a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan, where he lived as their guest.

Now, the Taliban rule over Afghanistan once again, trying to present a more modern face to the world.

But despite the veneer, the Taliban have not changed their ideology, and armed groups, including dozens of Qaeda members, remain in Afghanistan. Many of the conditions that made the Sept. 11 attacks possible remain.

Extremist armed groups still have a home in Afghanistan, according to the United States, China, Russia and the United Nations.

Al Qaeda has only a few dozen members, according to estimates from the United Nations and security experts, but some of them live freely in Kabul. The Afghan authorities have issued national identity cards to the leadership of Al Qaeda’s South Asian branch, according to the United Nations’ group of experts monitoring terrorist networks.

Thousands of Islamic State militants also roam the rugged borderlands between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Most numerous are the thousands of militants from Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, known as the Pakistani Taliban, or T.T.P., who navigate the porous border to stage attacks on Pakistani security forces. Security experts and officials attribute a sharp increase in attacks on Pakistan to the permissive environment provided by the Afghan Taliban since 2021.

Al Qaeda never abandoned the Taliban during their 20-year insurgency, and the Taliban have not abandoned Al Qaeda in power.

Over the past few months, Taliban officials have grown increasingly concerned about the possibility of a Pakistani-backed attempt at regime change in Afghanistan.

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TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; War on Terror
KEYWORDS:

[Cronos]

The Taliban claim that Afghanistan is no longer a sanctuary for terrorist groups, but Al Qaeda and others are still present, reviving old fears.

[TexasFreeper2009]

I know these cave dwelling goat humpers certainly cant produce a weapon or ammo...

So where do they get them?

[BenLurkin]

Worse yet, it now has a home in New York.

[wbarmy]

This is all because of Biden and his advisors who wanted his name in the record as “getting us out of Afghanistan.” That action ended up killing unknown numbers of Christians, raping unknown numbers of girls and young women and empowering a bunch of uneducated, unwashed, evil vermin on the world.

[Leaning Right]

Numbers differ. I asked one of those AI info bots how much equipment the United States (Biden) left behind in Afghanistan:

“The Taliban seized around one million weapons and pieces of military equipment when they took control of Afghanistan in 2021.”

The vehicles need maintenance that the Taliban probably cannot provide. But the small arms should work just fine.

Biden: What a disgrace.
But George W. Bush’s idiotic “nation building” put all that equipment there in the first place.

[Salman]

Of course. They won that war, though the larger war continues.

Now we will have to fight them here (what the war was supposed to prevent).

[montag813]

Who cares about Afghanistan. The entire Arab world funded 9/11 and knew about it...and we let them off the hook!

[Texas Eagle]

Dammit! If only we would’ve established a military presence in Afghanistan.