Though U.N. says Al-Qaeda growing in Afghanistan, Taliban disputes report

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- The United Nations Security Council reported this week that Al-Qaeda established eight new training camps and maintains several safe houses in Afghanistan, but the Taliban rejects the claim.

The report, compiled by a U.N. sanctions team created to monitor Al-Qaeda, said the Taliban has provided support and protection for the terror group since reclaiming Afghanistan shortly after U.S. forces pulled out in 2021.

According to the report, Al-Qaeda has established "up to eight" new training camps, including four in Ghazni, Laghman, Parwan and Uruzgan provinces, as well as a weapons stockpile in the Panjshir Valley.

The report also said the group operates five religious schools in the east and northeast of the country, where it indoctrinates children and trains them to become fighters.

Al-Qaeda also controls several safe houses in the capital of Kabul and in Herat province, where Afghani leaders liaison between leaders of the group in Iran, according to the report.

The findings indicate the Taliban has not honored its pledge to the United States to sever ties with the terror group, as outlined in the Doha agreement, a peace accord agreed to by the United States and the Taliban in 2020.

Taliban chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid denied the allegations in the report and denounced them as "propaganda."

"There is no one related to Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, nor does the Islamic Emirate allow anyone to use the territory of Afghanistan against others," he said.

The U.N. sanctions team also determined a regional affiliate of the Islamic State was the "greatest threat within Afghanistan," while a Pakistani chapter of the Taliban was "able to operate from Afghan territory across borders," possibly with support from Al-Qaeda.

Mujahid rejected the report as coming from a source that "stood by the occupation for their own interests" in reference to the 20-year-long U.S.-led NATO occupation of Afghanistan.

A year after the Taliban's takeover of Kabul, the United States located and killed Al-Qaeda's then-leader Ayman al-Zawahri via drone strike in the capital.

"The presence of Al-Qaeda senior figures in the country has not changed, and the group continues to pose a threat in the region and potentially beyond," the U.N. report read.

The U.N. and U.S. Justice Department believe Al-Qaeda's current leader, Sayf al-Adl, to be operating in Iran and have offered a $10 million reward for information on his exact location.