During an interview with NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Ricard Engel, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed that “There is no evidence” that Osama bin Laden was involved in the September 11, 2001 terror attacks executed against the U.S.
Engel noted that the war began when bin Laden orchestrated the terror attacks while he was a guest of the Taliban. The reporter then asked: “Can you guarantee that this country will never again be a base for terrorism?”
“Although there was no proof he was involved, now we have given promises that Afghan soil won’t be used against anyone,” Mujahid said. The outlet’s report included translations of the man’s remarks.
Engel pressed the issue: “You still don’t think that Osama bin Laden carried out 9/11?”
“There is no evidence, even after 20 years of war, we have no proof he was involved,” Mujahid responded.
As the Afghanistan evacuation speeds up, @RichardEngel presses a Taliban spokesperson over their claims that things… https://t.co/npMns6YRz4
— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt)1629933420.0
Fox News noted that in a message released in 2004 bin Laden admitted that he had ordered the terror attacks. He was killed by the U.S. in 2011 in Pakistan.
During the infamous 9/11 attacks, hijackers crashed commercial aircraft into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, and into the Pentagon building in Washington D.C. The Twin Towers eventually collapsed. Another plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field following a passenger revolt, according to Fox News.
“The 9/11 attack was driven by Usama Bin Ladin,” according to the 9/11 Commission Report executive summary.
“As final preparations were under way during the summer of 2001, dissent emerged among al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan over whether to proceed. The Taliban’s chief, Mullah Omar, opposed attacking the United States. Although facing opposition from many of his senior lieutenants, Bin Ladin effectively overruled their objections, and the attacks went forward,” the summary states,
The Biden administration has been facing significant criticism for bungling U.S. efforts to withdraw from Afghanistan, where the Taliban has swiftly seized control, taking over the capital city of Kabul earlier this month. The U.S. is currently scrambling to evacuate citizens and others from the country.