Top al-Qaeda leader working in Afghanistan to strengthen global terrorist network

KABUL -- Al-Qaeda leader Saif al-Adel has been traveling between Iran and the Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan, supporting terrorist groups across the region, Afghanistan International reported October 6.

Al-Adel entered Helmand province in the first half of 2021 and then relocated to Paktika province, a source close to the Haqqani Network told Afghanistan International.

After earthquakes hit southeastern Afghanistan in June and July 2022, al-Adel and other al-Qaeda leaders relocated again to Kunar and Nuristan provinces, the source said.

Financial resources

Al-Qaeda has established a complex financial network to underwrite its military activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Al-Adel's role has been influential, Afghanistan International suggested.

After August 2021, al-Qaeda paid off large debts to arms dealers in Nuristan, Paktia and Kunar provinces.

Al-Adel, using undisclosed financial sources, purchased advanced weapons with laser sights and supplied them to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the report said.

Al-Adel, a former Egyptian special forces officer, took the reins of al-Qaeda after his predecessor Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a US air strike in Kabul in July 2022.

He has urged supporters worldwide to migrate to Afghanistan for training and to learn from the conditions there, The Long War Journal reported in June.

Washington is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to al-Adel's apprehension or conviction.

Global threat

Al-Qaeda raises much of its money within Afghanistan, said Abdul Saboor Nikmal, a political analyst in Nimroz province.

"Afghanistan's abundant and valuable minerals are a great source of income for al-Qaeda," he said, citing the terror group's "extensive access to ... precious mines in remote mountainous areas."

Over the past two years, al-Qaeda has earned approximately $195 million from gold mines in Badakhshan and Takhar provinces, Foreign Policy reported in March.

Fourteen al-Qaeda-affiliated groups are profiting from these mines, it added.

Moreover, "al-Qaeda receives substantial financial support from its backers in many countries, including the Middle East," Nikmal told Salaam Times. "Most of this money is invested in al-Qaeda's capabilities in Afghanistan."

Al-Qaeda's efforts within Afghanistan have again made it a global threat.

"International terrorist groups, including [TTP], operate under al-Qaeda's command and have grown much stronger than before," said Mohammad Naim Ghayur, a security analyst based in Italy.

"As these groups gain more power, security threats not only in Afghanistan and Pakistan but in the region and beyond will increase," he told Salaam Times.

The United Nations has warned about al-Qaeda's growing influence in Afghanistan and its ties to other terrorist groups, including TTP.

The close relationship between al-Qaeda and TTP could make al-Qaeda a transnational threat, the UN said in a July report.