Al-Qaida allied rebels back Taliban advance in Afghanistan

Uyghur, Pakistani, Tajik and Uzbek militants join hands in fight against Kabul

20210811 Taliban Afghanistan

People on vehicles, holding Taliban flags, gather near the Friendship Gate crossing point in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border town of Chaman, Pakistan July 14. © Reuters

ZIA UR REHMAN, Contributing writer

ISLAMABAD -- Al-Qaida militants and allied transnational groups are aiding the Taliban's rapid advance in Afghanistan, ratcheting up the pressure on the Kabul government.

Under a U.S.-Taliban deal reached in February last year in Doha, all international coalition forces were to leave Afghanistan by this May in exchange for security guarantees from the Taliban, including cutting ties with al-Qaida and its allies, and pledging not to harbor foreign terrorists.

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