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After a Year of Privation With the Taliban’s Return, the People of Afghanistan Deserve Better from the US and the World

by Nasir A. Andisha and Marzia Marastoni

The recent killing of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a U.S. drone strike on a Taliban-linked guest house in the heart of Kabul brings the disastrous first year of the militant group’s control since August 2021 full circle. Zawahiri’s presence under Taliban eyes (the guest house was owned by U.S.-designated terrorist Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban government’s interior minister and deputy to the group’s reclusive Emir) demonstrates that the militants continue to shelter several terrorist organizations. Clearly, they are allowing the territory of Afghanistan under their control to be used for planning and carrying out terrorist attacks in the country and beyond.