Hamas congratulates Taliban on 'victory' in Afghanistan

Hamas has congratulated the Taliban for “defeating” the US.

The message which compared Hamas’s “struggle” with that of the Taliban’s comes as new photos were published showing a meeting held in Qatar in May between the leadership of the two Islamist terror groups.

“We congratulate the Muslim Afghan people for the defeat of the American occupation on all Afghan lands, and we congratulate the Taliban movement and its brave leadership on this victory, which culminated its long struggle over the past 20 years,” Hamas said in a statement.

“While Hamas wishes the Afghan Muslim people and its leadership success in achieving unity, stability and prosperity for Afghanistan and its people, it stresses that the demise of the American occupation and its allies proves that the resistance of the peoples, foremost of which is our struggling Palestinian people, will achieve victory.”

In a post on Twitter on Sunday night, Musa Abu Marzouk, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, wrote: “Today Taliban is victorious after it used to be accused of backwardness and terrorism. Now, the Taliban is more clever and more realistic. It has faced America and its agents, refusing half-solutions with them. The Taliban was not deceived by the slogans of democracy and elections and fake promises. This is a lesson for all oppressed people.”

Meanwhile new photos have emerged showing Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and a Taliban delegation. The meeting reportedly took place in Qatar where the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has been based for the past two years.

رئيس المكتب السياسي لإمارة #أفغانستان الإسلامية "#طالبان" نائب أمير المؤمنين للشؤون السياسية (الملا عبد الغني برادر) والوفد المرافق له يلتقون برئيس المكتب السياسي لـ #حماس (إسماعيل هنية) والوفد المرافق له في العاصمة القطرية الدوية.#طالبان_تنتصر pic.twitter.com/565dLyQHbz

— شؤون أفغانية (@AfghanAffairs7) August 16, 2021

According to a Palestinian journalist in the Gaza Strip, the Afghan delegation “congratulated” the Hamas leader on his group’s “victory” in the 11-day war with Israel last May.

The journalist said he expected increased cooperation between Hamas and Taliban after the “liberation” of Afghanistan. “The victory of Taliban emboldens the Palestinian resistance groups, including Hamas,” he said. “This shows that the US and its allies can be defeated despite their military capabilities.”