Tahrir al-Sham, Taliban come together, confirming common roots

Extremist groups have in most cases the same origin.

This common origin is usually manifested in the alliances these groups hammer out.

They are also manifested in the movement between them by their own members, along with the allegiance pledges they make to each other.

The latest alliance between the Afghan Taliban movement and the Liberation Front, a splinter group of the al-Qaeda in Syria, is a case in point.

The merging together of the two groups reveals their connections.

Allegiance

On Jan. 26, the Taliban movement leader and the Taliban security chief in Panjshir Province, Abdul Hamid Khorasani, announced that some leaders and members of Tahrir al-Sham in Syria had pledged allegiance to the leadership of the Afghan Taliban.

Khorasani made the announcement on Twitter.

Activists close to Tahrir al-Sham also shared pictures of Abu Muhammad al-Julani, the leader of the group, confirming support to the Taliban.

He especially cited the aid the movement offered around 50,000 Afghans to overcome harsh weather conditions in different parts of Afghanistan.

Similarities

The Taliban movement is similar to Tahrir al-Sham in several respects, the most important of which is the situation of the two organizations in the last two years.

Tahrir al-Sham has been trying for some time to abandon its combative approach and appear as a national liberation movement.

Since Jan. 2020, al-Julani has appeared in a video recording titled 'The War of Liberation and Independence', in what resembles a new shift in the doctrine of Tahrir al-Sham, which is classified on terrorist lists.

He aimed to send a message to the world to the effect that his organization has turned into something like a national liberation movement against the occupation, and not just an extremist organization, as it was in the past.