Taliban Training Terrorists At Former CIA Base

According to a Dari-language report by Afghanistan International, about 2,000 jihadi fighters are undergoing training at the former CIA base in Khost province of Afghanistan. These foreign fighters include members of Al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban and are under the control of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the chief of the Haqqani Network and Afghan Taliban's Minister of Interior.

According to the report, Ahmadullah Sarhadi, a close friend of Sirajuddin Haqqani, is in charge of the day-to-day operations at the base in Khost. The personnel being trained at the base officially do not exist and are not registered with Taliban security. The fighters being trained are being paid directly by the Taliban. Their identities are known only to top Taliban officials.

"Some residents of Khost who have seen these fighters told Afghanistan International that whenever they see them, they are reminded of the former Khost Protection Force soldiers who were trained by the CIA at this base during the previous government. The Khost Protection Force (KPF) was previously active in this province and was trained by CIA operatives, with its funding provided by the United States.

"According to them, the fighters being trained at this base wear the military uniform of the Khost Protection Force, cover their faces, carry American weapons, and ride in Simorgh, Land Cruiser vehicles, preventing ordinary vehicles from getting close to them."

The Haqqani Network has also reportedly organized a special suicide bomber unit which is headquartered in Khost. The Haqqanis were known during the Afghan War for their use of suicide bombers against Coalition forces.

The number of foreign fighters being trained in Khost by the Taliban is increasing. New fighters are being brought in daily.

The Taliban routinely attempt to convince the world that they have only peaceful intentions and are focused exclusively on the future of Afghanistan. The Biden-Harris administration makes no serious effort to refute these claims because it desperately wants to convince the American people that they will suffer no consequences from our disastrous withdrawal from Kabul.

The truth is much more disturbing. As we have documented here continuously Afghanistan is once again a safe haven for terrorists and the Taliban are supporting these groups heavily. No one trains thousands of foreign fighters in terrorist operations without the intention to put them to use. The most immediate target is Pakistan where the Pakistani Taliban have intensified their operations and made clear their intent to seize Islamabad and establish an Islamic Emirate on the Afghan model.

Clearly, though, jihadist aspirations do not end there. Al-Qaeda, which is back in Afghanistan in a big way, has made crystal clear its intention to continue the war on the “far enemy”, the United States.

On July 27, 2024, the pro-Al-Qaeda Al-Nusra Media Foundation resumed circulating Arabic-language posters inciting attacks in the United States in retaliation for its support for Israel and its "overt participation in the killing of Gazans." The posters explicitly call on attackers to emulate those who carried out the 9/11 attacks saying the likelihood of the replication of attacks such as the September 11, 2001 operation is "greater than ever before."

The new threat and incitement series includes a poster featuring a photo collage of Al-Qaeda operatives who carried out attacks on U.S. soil, such as Nidal Malik Hasan, the former U.S. Army major, and perpetrator of the 2009 Fort Hood massacre; Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, the surviving bomber of the 2015 Boston Marathon; Mohammed Saeed Al-Shamrani, the perpetrator of the 2019 attack at the Naval Air Station Pensacola; and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called "underwear bomber" who attempted to bomb Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day 2009. These individuals are presented to the world as the “heroes” young aspiring jihadists should emulate.

Inspire Magazine, which is produced by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has been making similar appeals for some time. The media foundation's poster series is called "Inspire Tweets," and is attributed to AQAP's media arm, Al-Malahem Foundation. AQAP is calling for attacks inside the United States including in Times Square and the assassination of specific individuals including Elon Musk. AQAP has also broadcast instructions on how to make a bomb and directed followers to blow up commercial aircraft.

None of this, of course, is being relayed to the American people nor is any of it having the slightest impact on our border security policy. Millions of people continue to pour across the border without any effort on our part to determine who they are. Hundreds of thousands of others fly directly into the United States using the mad CBP One app that lets them enter without any meaningful effort to screen them. 

The Taliban is training an army of suicide bombers to set the world on fire at one of our old bases and no one in the mainstream media cares or intends to investigate. The cone of silence has descended. That silence will, unfortunately, be shattered soon enough by the sounds of explosions when terrorist attacks return to American soil.