Local Conflicts and Foreign Fighters: The ‘Afghan Arabs’ Phenomena During Afghan Conflict (1978–2021)

Abstract

The emergence of the Afghan Arabs phenomena is the by-product of the Afghan ‘jihad’. The Arabs that mostly came to Afghanistan sought to fulfil a ‘religious’ duty in the form of jihad. This migration process from the Arab countries to the Af-Pak region was in line with the USA, Pakistan, Afghan mujahideen, Arab countries’ policies and volunteering fighters’ personal beliefs. The Afghan Arabs were not a homogeneous group; they were ideologically and strategically fragmented and had different groups and views. Hence, all Afghan Arabs did not end up in Al-Qaeda. Despite this fragmentation, Afghan Arabs played an essential role in the Afghan conflict, from raising funds to providing volunteer fighters and coverage of ‘jihad’ through their media sources. They also intervened in the affairs of Afghan mujahideen groups. They either sided with the opposing jihadi factions (and later with the Taliban) during the Afghan Civil War or remained silent. In the post-2001 period, their role was limited to technical support and fighting against the ‘common enemy’. In this period, the Taliban’s policy towards Al-Qaeda was to not condemn, not cut ties, to regularise them while officially rejecting their presence.