ISLAMABAD:
After the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan, Muslims from all over the world were encouraged by the US and its allies to come to Pakistan and join the Afghan Jihad for the noble religious cause against the USSR, now Russia. The trauma started in 1979. It was expected that the USSR wanted to gain access to the warm water of the Indian Ocean through the Arabian Sea. Soon, a Jihad was launched in which 20,000 to 30,000 Mujahideen from all over the Islamic world participated. Afghan warlords and their militias were provided guns, ammunitions and financial aid and the subsequent war continued for the next 10 years until the disintegration of the USSR.
During the Soviet occupation, Pakistan and Afghanistan were hosting Mujahideen with the help of the US and Saudi Arabia. In 1982, Dr Abdullah Azzam, an Islamic scholar and theologian, and a group of spiritual leaders established an organization, called Maktaba al Khidmat, in Peshawar. The organisation’s main objective was to provide financial, logistical and other types of support to Afghan Mujahideen. Osama Bin Laden was Azzam’s deputy. As Osama himself belongs to the elite family, the majority of the donation came from his family. However, after a disagreement with his mentor, Osama decided to form his own force consisting of a few Arab fighters. Initially, the force was famously known as the “Arab Brigade”, but in 1988 it was changed to al Qaeda.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 8th, 2021.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
