The Sherpur district, in the center of Kabul, has been inaccessible since Tuesday, August 2, in the morning. A few hours earlier, the American president, Joe Biden, welcomed an operation having killed the leader of Al-Qaeda, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, during a drone strike, which occurred on Sunday July 31, around 6 am, Kabul time. On Monday evening, the American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, confronted the new masters of Kabul with their backs to the wall, adding that in “hosting” this man, the Taliban had “grossly violated the Doha agreement”.
Concluded in 2020 with the aim of a total withdrawal of the Americans from Afghanistan, this agreement obliges the Taliban to ensure that Afghan territory does not once again become a refuge for terrorists. The presence of bin Laden’s right-hand man in the heart of Kabul underscores the Taliban’s prolonged isolation around the world as they seek international recognition just days before the first anniversary of their return to power on 15 august.
Tuesday, on the main road leading to the site of the strike, a few Taliban soldiers, watching for any passage, are on edge. “Get in your car and get out of here!” », they say to journalists, brandishing their weapons. In the streets around the targeted house, the Taliban in civilian clothes are monitoring the situation. Traders prefer to say that they were not present at the time of the attack. “I heard explosions on Sunday morning, but I was at home. We don’t know more », says a young man who works in a grocery store. A few hours earlier, the Taliban fighters had gone to see one of his colleagues, asking him questions about what he had seen on the day of the strike.
Neighbor of the Taliban Police Chief
In Kabul, the wealthy district of Sherpur is known for its multi-storey villas with ostentatious facades. For the past twenty years, it has housed senior leaders of the former regime, the headquarters of international humanitarian organizations and the offices of some media. After the fall of Kabul on August 15, 2021, Taliban leaders moved into the abandoned villas. The house targeted on July 31 was notably close to that of Kabul Taliban police chief Mawli Hamza.
On Sunday morning, after the news of the explosion was spread by netizens, the Taliban authorities tried to play down the incident, explaining that“an empty house” had been targeted by a rocket, with no casualties. Finally, on Tuesday, after the American announcement, the spokesman of the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, pointed the finger at the United States which, with this strike, had violated the Doha agreement. “This strikehe explained in a press release.is the repetition of the vain actions of the last twenty years.a reference to the war waged by the United States against the Taliban, between 2001 and 2021.
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