Qatar’s failure in securing deal with Taliban may have a terrorism link
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Alaina
- . May 26, 2022
- . Update: May 26, 2022 10:05 pm
Qatar– After the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, Qatar was able to establish extant ties with the new administration. However, the recent failure of the Qatari government in securing a deal with the Taliban for the management of Kabul International airport and other facilities in the country may have hampered the relations between the two sides. It has been reported that Qatar’s long-running history with terrorism and its support for global terror entities may have foiled its plans to gain control of the operations of the airports in Afghanistan.
Qatar has been facing scrutiny for its support for the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood along with its close ties with al-Qaeda affiliates in the Middle East region. Doha’s increasing ties with Iran have also been met with criticism from various regional powers in view of reports of Qatari funding to radical ideology and extremism in the region.
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Unrelenting Qatari support to terrorism
A New York Times report stated that Qatar continues to provide global Islamist groups such as al-Qaeda and Hamas with “safe haven, diplomatic mediation, financial aid and, in certain instances, weapons.”
In 2014, David Cohen, then-US Treasury Under-Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, revealed that, for several years, Qatar has been openly financing Hamas and supporting extremist groups operating in Syria. Various Qatari nationals have been sanctioned by Washington for their ties with Islamist groups and financing their terror activities in countries across the world. In July 2021, the US State Department launched an investigation into the alleged financial support provided by the Qatari government to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
In 2017, prominent Arab nations including Saudi Arabia and Bahrain severed their diplomatic relations with Qatar noting the country’s unrelenting support for terrorism in the region. In addition, Egypt condemned Qatar’s alleged financial and defence assistance to Muslim Brotherhood after Doha refused to join its neighbouring Arab countries in labelling the Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation.
Afghanistan in crisis
With the Taliban’s increasing power in Afghanistan, Qatar appears to be facing difficulties in maintaining close ties with its ally amid deep-rooted concerns over its backing of terror activities in the region.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated in the past few months. According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), by mid-2022, more than 90 per cent of Afghani people could face “universal poverty”. A majority of the Afghani people are currently living under dire circumstances due to widespread food insecurity and worsening repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
