Mystery of Massive 2020 Port of Beirut Blast Unraveled

Bulgaria Arrests Russian Owner of Cargo Ship Implicated in 2020 Beirut Blast

5:10

Police in Bulgaria arrested Russian national Igor Grechushkin on Monday, almost five years after a cargo ship owned by Grechushkin was linked to the massive explosion at the Port of Beirut on August 4, 2020.

The explosion, which killed 218 people and injured more than 6,000 others, destroyed much of the Port of Beirut and inflicted billions of dollars in damages on an already-impoverished Lebanon. Sporadic investigations have been conducted over the past five years, with a great deal of interference from various Lebanese factions, including the Iran-backed terrorists of Hezbollah.

To date, not a single official in Lebanon has been held accountable for the disaster, despite protest marches and pleas for justice from families of the victims.

The source of the explosion was a huge cache of ammonium nitrate that was improperly stored at the port. Ammonium nitrate can be used as a fertilizer, but as the grim events of August 4, 2020, demonstrated, it can also make a very powerful explosive.

The shipment of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate was brought to the Port of Beirut in 2013 by the MV Rhosus, a cargo ship owned by Grechushkin. The shipment was supposedly destined for Mozambique. The Rhosus was not scheduled to dock in Beirut. It ostensibly made a detour to pick up more cargo, so its voyage would be more profitable, but port officials said the additional cargo was too heavy for the ship to handle.

The Rhosus was impounded for mechanical violations and unpaid port fees by Lebanese officials soon after its arrival and its deadly cargo was transferred to a warehouse, where it remained until the explosion in 2020. The Rhosus never left the Port of Beirut – it sprang a leak and sank in February 2018.

Shady tactics and phony paperwork were employed to conceal the true purpose of the shipment: to deliver a huge quantity of explosives to Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. As massive as the Beirut blast was, explosives experts said its yield was only about half of what would have been expected from 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate. The other half of the deadly cargo was siphoned out of the warehouse during its six years of storage.

Lebanese judges issued arrest warrants for Grechushkin and the captain of the Rhosus, Boris Prokoshev, almost five years ago. The Lebanese judiciary said on Monday that Bulgarian police, acting on a “red notice” from Interpol issued in early 2021, arrested Grechushkin at Vasil Levski Sofia Airport when he arrived on a flight from Cyprus.

Lebanese prosecutors have filed paperwork to have Grechushkin extradited, but if that request is not granted, they said they are prepared to travel to Bulgaria to question him.

Bulgarian officials said on Monday they will “now oversee whether there is enough evidence to begin an extradition process.” They hinted at a possible roadblock by referring to Grechushkin as a “Cypriot citizen.”

As for Prokoshev, he blamed Lebanese officials for creating a dangerous situation by refusing to let the Rhosus leave port with its huge cargo of explosives.

“They should have gotten rid of the vessel right away instead of confiscating it and demanding fees for harboring it.”

“Secondly, we are talking about ammonium nitrate here. They could have used it for their fields. Nobody was claiming it, which means it belonged to nobody.”

Prokoshev was highly critical of Grechushkin for diverting the Rhosus to Beirut for more cargo and for abandoning the crew in Lebanon without even paying their wages. He said he and the crew wanted to sue Grechushkin for their unpaid salaries, but were unable to find him. He also found it curious that the alleged buyers of the ammonium nitrate in Mozambique never complained about their undelivered million-dollar shipment.

Interpol and the Lebanese judiciary did not seem concerned about Prokoshev’s whereabouts on Monday, focusing instead on Grechushkin, who could lead them to other shadowy figures involved with the Rhosus and its final voyage. 

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, a former military commander elected in January 2025 to fill a three-year vacancy in the presidential office, campaigned on a promise to investigate the Beirut blast and bring justice to the families of the victims.

Speaking on the fifth anniversary of the explosion in August, Aoun promised his administration remains “committed to uncovering the whole truth, no matter the obstacles or how high the positions.”

“We are working with all available means to ensure the investigations are completed with transparency and integrity,” he said.

“The blood of your loved ones will not be in vain. Justice is coming, accountability is coming,” Aoun told families of the victims.

https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2025/09/16/bulgaria-arrests-russian-owner-cargo-ship-implicated-2020-beirut-blast/

Legality of Targeting Terrorists in Qatar

A legal clarification: Targeting Hamas terrorist leaders in Qatar

The fact that Hamas terrorist leaders sought safe harbor in a friendly sovereign state did not mean they were no longer subject to law-mandated punishment or that the principle of sovereignty immunized the terror-protecting state (Qatar) from Israeli law-enforcement.

A core misunderstanding surrounds Israel’s counter-terrorism strike in Qatar. It is that a state’s sovereignty is always absolute, and that any intrusion of this “highest authority” is always a crime. As jurisprudential axiom, any notion of absolute sovereignty is a contradiction in terms. If it were otherwise, states could never be meaningfully bound by international law. If it were otherwise, law would represent nothing more than a reflection of relative military power.

Today it’s the particulars that matter most. In a world legal order that mandates punishment of terror-crimes (“No crime without a punishment” is Principle 1 of the 1950 Nuremberg Principles), each state is obliged to cooperate against such offenses. Accordingly, no state is entitled to grant safe-haven to terrorists on its territory. Where this prohibition is disregarded, as was the case of Qatar and Hamas, all normal prerogatives of sovereignty are removed ipso facto and the terror-offended state, here Israel, is entitled to launch corrective interventions.

To be sure, such a remediating attack must still conform to expectations of the law of war (i.e., humanitarian international law), rules concerning “distinction,” “proportionality” and “military necessity. Prima facie, however, by its conspicuously precise attacks in Qatar, Israel did in fact comply fully with these binding expectations.

Accordingly, the fact that Hamas terrorist leaders sought safe harbor in a friendly sovereign state did not mean they were no longer subject to law-mandated punishment or that the principle of sovereignty immunized the terror-protecting state (Qatar) from Israeli law-enforcement. In essence, Jerusalem’s “long-arm” counter-terrorist operation was consistent with codified and customary international law, including (per art. 38 of the UN Statute of the International Court of Justice) “the general principles of law recognized by civilized nations.”

Terrorists, like pirates, are “common enemies of humankind” and subject to punishment anywhere on earth. Regarding Israel’s defensive actions in Qatar, Hamas terrorists represent international outlaws (hostes humani generis) whose defilements lie well within the punishment scope of "universal jurisdiction." This means that any country, whether or not directly imperiled by terror-violence, can claim a valid right to target such outlaws if normal obligations of criminal extradition would be disregarded. Where a state has already been directly victimized, that state (here, Israel) has a special and primary right to impose adequate punishments.

On its face, the international legal system remains a "self-help" system of justice. Since the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, it is within a background of global anarchy that terror-beleaguered states must identify counter-terrorism options. If Israel had not acted against jihadi terrorists being protected in Qatar, law would have been trumped by crude considerations of raw power.

Responding to intentionally indiscriminate Hamas violence, harms inflicted with “criminal intent” or mens rea, Israel’s precise airstrikes in Qatar were a life-saving operation. Israel - faced with a persistent threat of Palestinian Arab terrorism that could eventually escalate to mass destruction operations - has no humane choice but to eliminate Hamas leadership elements wherever they might be located.

Abandoning such authoritative legal reasoning would pose a major threat to all states, not just Israel. Such forfeiture would undermine regional and global security in general. An example would be jihadi terror attacks that escalate into a wider war. In a worst-case scenario, this escalation, whether sudden or incremental, would become nuclear.

There is more. In law, there can be no reasonable comparisons of the deliberate mass murder of Israeli noncombatants by terrorists with the unintended civilian harms suffered incidental to Israeli law-enforcement. Under the law of war, even where an insurgent employs force with "just cause," that combatant is still required to fight with "just means."

The phrase “One man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter” is never anything more than propagandistic contrivance.

Ordinarily, targeted killings, like terrorism, are a crime under international law. Under certain recognizable conditions, however, the discriminate elimination of terrorist leaders could express a valuable form of life-preservation. In our self-defense structured world legal system, the only alternative to states launching precise targeting actions against terrorist leaderships would be to allow deliberate terrorist targeting of innocent populations.

International law is not a suicide pact. It would be best if Israel didn’t have to plan targeted killings of terrorist adversaries, but in our continuously self-help system of world law, a beleaguered country smaller than America’s Lake Michigan has no reasonable choice. Under authoritative principles governing insurgencies, ends can never justify means. In law, there is never an excuse for either inflicting or ignoring premeditated violence against the innocent.

In Qatar - much as in the case of the United States targeting Osama Ben-Laden in Pakistan - Israel subordinated normally protective elements of sovereignty to exceptionally primary elements of justice.

written by LOUIS RENÉ BERES

Emeritus Professor of International Law at Purdue

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/414972

Crime News: Canadian gov't: Hamas, Hezbollah fundraising in country, incl. Hezbollah trading cars, drugs

 

Canadian gov't: Hamas, Hezbollah fundraising in country, incl. Hezbollah trading cars, drugs

A Canadian Finance Department report warns that Hamas and Hezbollah exploit banks, crypto, and trade routes like the Port of Montreal to funnel funds abroad.

By Michael Starr, Jerusalem Post, September 16, 2025

https://www.jpost.com/international/article-867593

An illustrative image of a Hezbollah flag in the backdrop of an individual holding a weapon. (photo credit: SHUTTERSTOCK)

Hamas and Hezbollah are receiving funds from sources in Canada, according to a Canadian Finance Department report that came out late last month, with Hezbollah the second most identified terrorist organization to receive funds from the country.

The 2025 Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risks in Canada detailed the vulnerabilities and risks in Canada's anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing legal regime, noting that while the system was comprehensive Canada's open and stable economy made it an attractive target for organized crime and third party enablers.

Some of these Canadian vulnerabilities were exploited by Hamas and Hezbollah, which both fundraised through a variety of methods, including abuse of the banking sectors, money services businesses, cryptocurrencies, charities, non-profit organizations, and criminal activity.

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) reported that funds suspected of supporting Hezbollah were sent using the used car trade. American sources had observed Hezbollah purchasing cars and selling them around the world, with the proceeds later transported to Lebanon.

According to the August 22 Finance Department assessment, the Port of Montreal is a known link for the shipping of luxury vehicles to Lebanon, as part of the Hezbollah financing network.

A drone view shows shipping containers at the Port of Montreal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, April 14, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/CARLOS OSORIO)

Trade-based money laundering poses a high vulnerability for Canada due to the ease with which import and export companies can be established and fall outside other cross-border regulatory frameworks.

The true purpose of the trade and the source of the funds can be obfuscated, particularly through the involvement of intermediaries. It is difficult to know if the destination is a terrorist organization due to shipping through convoluted routings. To combat this vulnerability, the legal regime was expanded in 2025 to allow for the seizure of goods when authorities believe that they are being used as a pretext for illicit conduct.

Organized crime is increasingly being utilized worldwide by terrorist organizations as an intermediary for support and even terrorism, the Finance Ministry warned, with Canada listing several transnational criminal gangs as terrorist entities for their involvement in terrorism.

Hezbollah is also inextricably linked to criminal organizations in its financing schemes. Hezbollah is a major global player in the trade of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and captagon, with trafficking networks across Latin America, the US, and Canada.

Cryptocurrencies are considered a "very high" vulnerability for Canada, due to the global online reach of decentralized finance platforms, which often don't employ identity verification and client diligence. The Finance Department noted that Hamas and Hezbollah have utilized cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Tether in their financing strategy, but did not specify the extent to which these networks have penetrated Canada. Both were early adopters of cryptocurrencies and use online platforms and social media to raise and move funds.

In the last two years, Canada has introduced provisions to search and seize digital assets of crime, and FINTRAC can disclose financial intelligence to other government agencies if it has reasonable grounds to suspect the information is relevant to terrorism. Digital money services are required to register with FINTRAC, and must notify the body of large or multiple rapid transfers.

Terror groups' long history of using charities, non-profits to fundraise

Hamas and Hezbollah also have a long history of using charities and non-profit organizations to gather funds. While non-profits were assessed as a medium-level vulnerability by the Finance Department, it also cautioned that the vast majority posed little risk for laundering and terrorist financing.

Only a small subset of non-profits were vulnerable to abuse, argued the department, and they should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. In October, Canada and the US proscribed the Vancouver-based Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, which serves as a "sham charity" and proxy of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

The financing for terrorism from Canada was assessed as being overall low in volume, but the August 22 report also noted that terrorism didn't require substantial resources to carry out high-impact attacks. 

In response to a Toronto Sun report on September 4, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs urged the Canadian government to quickly "close these gaps to prevent this type of infiltration."

Despite IDF's Bloody Lessons, Hezbollah Sells Drugs, Stolen Cars In Canada To Fund Terror On Israel?

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New Book by Yossi Cohen (former Mossad Chief)

A former Mossad chief uncovers his life fighting for Israel — and Western civilization

I’m Israeli. I’m Jewish. I’m a democrat. I’m liberal. I’m Zionist. I’m the former head of the Mossad.

As someone who’s devoted a lifetime to the defense of my country, eventually becoming director of Israel’s pivotal foreign-intelligence agency following a spell as national-security adviser, I take pride in understanding the nature of threats facing us and countering them covertly, powerfully and preemptively around the globe.

Modern wars no longer end in absolute victory or abject surrender, yet the state of Israel must win any conflict it enters.

That single sentence sums up the complexities of the Middle East, a place of contradiction and cyclical confrontation that rarely gives peace a chance.

The Jewish people have no alternative. We have no other homeland, no other refuge but the State of Israel.

When I hear young demonstrators chant, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” I am compelled to ask: Where exactly do they suggest we go?

Most of them have never set foot in Israel. Many deny the atrocities of Oct. 7.

They ignore the hundreds of thousands of victims, children, women and men who have perished at the hands of those with extremist ideologies who suppress women’s rights, execute men for being gay, use hospitals as their military base and wield children as human shields.

The Jewish community in Israel and globally faces danger not only from totalitarian regimes and their proxies abroad but also within its own neighborhoods.

Antisemitism has surged in an age of disinformation and denial. It has become a global scourge, a brutalizing force that thrives on ignorance and manifests itself in Nazi graffiti, online propaganda and the posturing of emboldened hatemongers, too often enabled by their naïve apologists. Its reach stretches from east to west, leaving no society untouched.

Despite these threats, Israel will continue to thrive.

We stand shoulder to shoulder with the world’s democracies, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and many others, bound together by shared values of freedom, dignity and human rights.

No chant, no slogan shouted by the ignorant and no act of violence will divert us from those values.

What the protesters — and the United Nations General Assembly this month will bring more — fail to recognize is that the real danger is not Israel.

The real danger is posed by murderous regimes, global in scope and ambition, that seek to destroy not only the Jewish people but also the very foundations of Western civilization.

They threaten you, the reader of this essay, simply because you believe in democracy and the values that form the free world.

That is why June 13, 2025, the day Israel attacked Iran, should be remembered as a historic day.

A day when the world became a safer place.

I had prepared for this operation for many years, ever since my early days as a young commander in the Mossad.

The work of intelligence and making Israel safer has always been in my blood; it defined me for 38 years until my retirement a few years ago.

I was among those who developed the concept that local agents should not only gather intelligence but also serve as active operatives, capable of striking targets and carrying out preventive actions.

This doctrine proved decisive, and its effectiveness was demonstrated in full during the June 13 operation and those that followed.

On a personal level, bringing the Iranian chapter full circle was a source of immense satisfaction.

The evidence uncovered through Israel’s 2018 operation, which I initiated and led, to secure Iran’s secret nuclear archive profoundly shaped the course of subsequent events.

It forced the world to confront Tehran’s deliberate violations of international agreements and exposed the magnitude of its deception, the false claim its nuclear program was solely for peaceful purposes.

President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strategy to prepare for a strike in the event of a collapsed negotiation was both bold and wise.

Long before, we had mapped the vulnerabilities of Iran’s nuclear-defense systems and shared precise information on where and how such strikes should be carried out.

Operations of this kind are inherently complex, and it will take time before the full scope of the damage is assessed.

Yet in my estimation, the United States and Israel with their June offensives achieved close to a comprehensive neutralization of Iran’s nuclear sites.

Perhaps the Iranians managed to conceal small quantities of enriched uranium, but I am convinced their enrichment capability has been destroyed.

It will take them years to recover from the events of June 2025.

The blow to Iran’s military leadership and to the heads of its nuclear program was devastating. Recovery from such a strike is extraordinarily difficult.

There is now no active uranium enrichment in Iran. But the more significant achievement lies in deterrence.

For years, we urged the United States to declare it would act militarily if Iran advanced toward nuclear weapons.

I personally spoke to three different presidents.

Now it has done so. And if Tehran tests the West again, the countries that share the same values, it will happen once more.

Whether Iran’s nuclear project has been disabled for years or only months is less important.

What matters is the deterrent power established: The regime knows it is exposed, and we will strike again if necessary.

I suspect every Iranian nuclear scientist, upon hearing the sound of a motorcycle on the street, turns his head in fear. They are terrified to their core.

The murderous, tyrannical regime in Iran once believed itself untouchable, convinced no one would dare to strike.

But Israel did, with the full weight of American power behind it.

That said, I personally believe the June attack represented a missed historic opportunity to advance regime change by removing the ayatollahs themselves.

Nevertheless, I respect President Trump’s determination to bring the region stability.

History chooses its moments. Over the course of my life, I have led countless operations, most of which have never been revealed and never will be.

I have held one-on-one meetings with some of the world’s most influential leaders: from President of the United States Donald Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin, from heads of state across Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa to leaders of countries with which Israel has no formal relations.

Some of these stories will be told in due course, and some appear in my upcoming book.

But at this moment, I can only speak from the heart: A non-nuclear Iran is the realization of my life’s work.

Yossi Cohen’s book “The Sword of Freedom: Israel, Mossad, and the Secret War” is out Sept. 16.

https://nypost.com/2025/09/14/opinion/a-former-mossad-chief-uncovers-his-life-fighting-for-israel-and-western-civilization/

U.S. News: Twenty four years after 9/11, al-Qaeda resurgence poses ‘daily threat’ to US

 

Twenty four years after 9/11, al-Qaeda resurgence poses ‘daily threat’ to US

“After Afghanistan fell in 2021, al-Qaeda quietly began rebuilding its networks while working closely with the Taliban," said Azim Shinwari, a former Afghan senior counterterrorism expert.

ByARSHAD MEHMOOD / THE MEDIA LINE, September, 2025https://www.jpost.com/international/article-867247

Taliban soldiers celebrate on the second anniversary of the fall of Kabul on a street near the US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 15, 2023. (photo credit: REUTERS/ALI KHARA)

The United States faces a troubling question on the 24th anniversary of 9/11: Is history in danger of repeating itself?

For more stories from The Media Line go to themedialine.org

Nearly 3,000 lives were lost on that tragic day in 2001, when al-Qaeda struck the heart of America, turning commercial airliners into passenger-filled missiles.

The attacks reshaped US national security policies and triggered a global “war on terror” that continues to reverberate to this day.

The specter of extremism, fueled by geopolitical instability and unresolved conflicts, casts a long shadow.

The US invasion disrupted the al-Qaeda network and ousted the Taliban, but the group’s leader escaped, and al-Qaeda went underground in Afghanistan and neighboring countries.

The US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s return to power have reignited fears that conditions that led to the rise of al-Qaeda will return.

US Marines load onto a U.S. C-17 Globemaster from McGuire Air Force Base to be transported to Afghanistan from Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait August 18, 2021. Picture taken August 18, 2021 (credit: Staff Sgt. Ryan Brooks/US Air Force/Handout via REUTERS)

Despite Taliban assurances, al-Qaeda is quietly reestablishing camps in Afghanistan, and its close ties with Taliban factions raise doubts about the pledge to keep the country from serving as a base for attacks on the West.

The anniversary of 9/11 is a testament to the devastating consequences of unchecked extremism and the urgent need for global cooperation to prevent a recurrence of such tragic events.

In September 2024, the Daily Mirror reported that Hamza bin Laden, the son of Osama bin Laden, is alive and leading al-Qaeda in Afghanistan — a revelation that shocked global security and intelligence circles.

The claim directly contradicted earlier reports of his death in a 2019 CIA airstrike, with fresh intelligence suggesting that Hamza and his brother Abdullah are playing key roles in reviving al-Qaeda’s influence across the region.

For so-called global jihadists, his leadership offers continuity with Osama bin Laden’s legacy at a time when the Islamic State is attempting to dominate the global extremist movement.

It is also believed that Hamza bin Laden and al-Qaeda’s de facto leader, Saif al-Adel, are using safe houses in Afghanistan. These safe houses reportedly facilitate the movement of al-Qaeda members.

Al-Adel assumed leadership of al-Qaeda following the assassination of Ayman al-Zawahri in a US drone strike in Kabul in July 2022. However, the Taliban has yet to officially confirm Zawahri’s death, heightening concerns about its ties to al-Qaeda.

A former Egyptian commando and longtime associate of Osama bin Laden, al-Adel is regarded as one of the group’s most experienced strategists and operational planners.

The FBI lists him among its most wanted terrorists, with a $10 million bounty for his role in orchestrating the 1998 US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

UN and US officials have repeatedly cautioned that Afghanistan could once again become a safe haven for international terrorist groups, raising fears that the same conditions that enabled the deadliest attack on American soil may be reemerging, posing fresh risks to US security and global stability.

Afghanistan’s instability under Taliban rule has created space for terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda, to regroup.

Although weaker than before, with fewer resources and leaders, al-Qaeda benefits from experienced fighters and the freedom of movement.

Al-Qaeda’s resurgence in Afghanistan raises fears of a new terror wave

While another 9/11-scale attack is unlikely soon, smaller deadly operations remain possible, aided by online recruitment and coordination. With no foreign troops on the ground, monitoring the threat is far harder, despite US reliance on drones and intelligence.

On the 24th anniversary of 9/11, the resurgence of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan under Taliban protection represents a grave and escalating danger to the American people and US interests worldwide.

Experts are cautioning against complacency, emphasizing that the fight against terrorism is a continuous battle that demands constant vigilance and unwavering commitment.

Alex Mishra, a Master of Public Policy at Liberty University in the Washington, DC–Baltimore area who specializes in al-Qaeda and Afghanistan issues, told The Media Line that “nearly 24 years after 9/11, US national security faces its most serious daily threat since the attacks.”

He warned that “America is confronting the most dangerous terror threat conglomerate in decades.”

Mishra claimed that “al-Qaeda now operates training camps in more than a dozen Afghan provinces with Taliban support."

He noted that “in 2021, the Taliban welcomed Osama bin Laden’s former guard, and by 2024, new camps had been confirmed across eastern Afghanistan. al-Qaeda leader Saif al-Adel has called on foreign fighters to travel to Afghanistan and join these facilities."

Mishra added that “Osama bin Laden’s son, Hamza bin Laden, has been reported by several sources to be in Afghanistan, committed to strengthening al-Qaeda."

He claimed, “al-Qaeda maintains a drone training camp in Kunduz, while the Taliban — still aligned with the group — are producing suicide drones modeled after US Reapers and Iran’s Shahed-136 drones at former American and British bases near Kabul and in Logar province."

He warned that these developments raise fears of potential drone attacks on major US cities.

Mishra stressed that Washington must designate the Taliban as a foreign terrorist organization, cut all US funding to its government, and sanction China for its support.

Adrian Calamel, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Arabian Peninsula Institute and an expert on global security affairs, told The Media Line that he does not believe history repeats itself, “but it does rhyme — and right now, people should be hearing a bellicose symphony.”

He stressed that “the core issue lies in the politicization of intelligence on Afghanistan, both during the 20-year war and in the years since."

Calamel noted that successive US administrations have reported accurate numbers only when they served strategic objectives, while intelligence that contradicted realities on the ground was politicized.

He stressed that “elements within American intelligence need to understand the Taliban and al-Qaeda are inseparable. If our threat analysis is partly based on Taliban counterintelligence, then America is flying blind vis-à-vis an al-Qaeda homeland plot."

Calamel further observed that Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-K) has often served as a cover for al-Qaeda and the Taliban, masking their cooperation while al-Qaeda quietly expanded since the Arab Spring in 2010. With Zawahri’s 2011 order halting attacks on Western targets possibly reversed by al-Adel, Calamel cautioned that IS-K could be used as a proxy, as in the Abbey Gate attack.

He also raised concerns about potential networks inside the US, operatives who may have entered after Kabul’s fall, and reports of the Taliban issuing passports to al-Qaeda members.

Azim Shinwari, a former Afghan senior counterterrorism expert with extensive field experience, told The Media Line: “After Afghanistan fell in 2021, al-Qaeda quietly began rebuilding its networks while working closely with the Taliban.”

He explained that “soon after the takeover, al-Qaeda leaders met Taliban’s senior leadership in Kandahar, where Taliban leaders advised them to keep a low profile while strengthening their position."

Shinwari claimed that despite staying under the radar, al-Qaeda has steadily grown its influence.

He noted that while Kabul and Washington share intelligence, their cooperation is limited to IS-KP and does not extend to al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups.

Shinwari warned that some insiders caution that another 9/11-type attack cannot be entirely ruled out.

According to Shinwari, the group currently has about 500 experienced commanders across Afghanistan and Pakistan, many integrated within the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Afghan Taliban. In total, al-Qaeda’s presence in the region is estimated at around 5,000 members.

Shinwari noted that Abdullah bin Laden plays a key role in coordinating al-Qaeda’s leadership across Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan.

He emphasized that far from being diminished, al-Qaeda has grown stronger by operating discreetly, supported by an environment that allows its activities to thrive.

Shinwari added that its battle-hardened commanders, with years of experience fighting Western forces, are now training younger fighters.

He underlined that, confident in its long-term goals, al-Qaeda views Afghanistan as its main hub.

Dr. Ejaz Hussain, a Lahore-based political and security analyst who completed his postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley, told The Media Line, “The Taliban is essentially a network rather than a coherent government, and internal factionalism shapes its responses to security threats.”

He explained that “while reports suggest al-Qaeda may be regrouping under Hamza bin Laden with Haqqani backing, such claims remain contested."

However, Hussain noted, the Haqqanis could signal alignment with al-Qaeda as a bargaining tool to pressure rival Taliban factions, particularly those based in Kandahar, and to consolidate their influence within the regime.

According to Hussain, what is beyond dispute is that Afghanistan continues to host various anti-state forces, including the TTP, which carries out cross-border attacks into Pakistan.

He stressed that this situation requires the United States and Pakistan to work in tandem to engage the Taliban in countering and containing such groups, with Washington providing intelligence and logistical support.

 Hussain emphasized that a deep trust deficit remains between the Taliban and the US, as well as between the Taliban and Pakistan. He concluded that closing this gap is essential to addressing the evolving threat and securing both regional stability and global peace.

God Bless and protect the United States of America and all its people!

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