The Kabul Tribune- The Taliban’s chief spokesman said the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that triggered the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan were planned outside the country and carried out by non-Afghans, insisting Afghanistan had no role in the plot.
In a televised interview, Zabihullah Mujahid
said the United States used the attacks as a pretext to invade and occupy
Afghanistan, but after years of heavy costs “ultimately failed.”
“America wanted dominance over the region and
access to Afghanistan’s rich natural resources,” Mujahid said. “They wanted a
long-term presence here, but their efforts ended in failure and their forces
were forced to withdraw.”
The Sept. 11 attacks were carried out by 19
al-Qaida operatives who hijacked four passenger planes. Two slammed into the
World Trade Center towers in New York, one struck the Pentagon and the fourth
crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back. Nearly 3,000 people were
killed, making it the deadliest terrorist assault on U.S. soil.
The attacks prompted Washington to launch its
“war on terror,” which began with the invasion of Afghanistan and later
expanded to Iraq.
