Taliban provocation? Taliban flag hoisted at the presidential palace on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks

On the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, the Taliban who occupied Afghanistan hoisted the Taliban flag at the Afghan presidential palace. The Taliban held an event that day to celebrate their victory and continued provocative actions, such as criticizing the Western world.

According to the Associated Press, on the 11th (local time), Ahmadullah Mutaki, director of the Cultural Committee of the Taliban Transitional Government, said that the Taliban flag was hung at the Afghan Presidential Palace in Kabul under the direction of Acting Prime Minister Mohammed Hassan Akund. It looks like the Taliban flag is engraved in black with ‘Shahada,’ the Islamic confession of faith, on a white background. “The raising of the flag signifies the official launch of a new government,” Mutaki said.

However, the day the Taliban raised the flag is controversial as it is the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, in which the Islamic militant group al-Qaeda committed suicide attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. In particular, it is known that the Taliban helped hide Osama bin Laden, the head of al Qaeda. The Washington Post said that the flag-raising shows that the Taliban have made a remarkable comeback after 20 years of fighting with an American-led army. The Associated Press reported that the Taliban did not comment on the 9/11 attacks.

The Taliban also held a ‘Women’s March’ event at Kabul University on the same day and launched a propaganda campaign targeting Western countries. According to the Associated Press, the event was attended by women covered in black cloth from head to toe, some of whom said “they don’t represent us” of those who fled for fear of the Taliban’s crackdown on women’s rights. Speakers at the event also gave speeches celebrating the Taliban’s victory over the West.

Malvi Mohammad Daud Haqqani, head of the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education, said on the same day that “The 9/11 terrorist attack is the day the world started propaganda to accuse us of calling us terrorists.”

Since the Taliban occupied Kabul on the 15th of last month, Afghan flags have been lowered and Taliban flags have been hoisted everywhere in Afghan government offices. On the 6th, it was confirmed that the Taliban coat of arms and a large mural of the Shahada were painted on the wall of the US embassy in Kabul, where all US employees were withdrawn. The New York Post and other American media analyzed that “the mural could be considered a provocation.”

A large mural depicting the Taliban is painted on the wall of the US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, on the 11th (local time). Kabul | AP Yonhap News