(RepublicanInformer.com)- According to reports out of India, the Kabul suicide bomber who killed at least 169 Afghans and 13 US service members was Abdul Rehman, a former engineering student whom the Taliban freed from Bagram prison on August 15.
Rehman had been held at Bagram prison for the past four years. According to Indian intelligence sources, Rehman was turned over to the Central Intelligence Agency by India’s Research and Analysis Wing in September 2017.
The US bugged out of Bagram in early July, leaving the base in the Afghan military’s hands. And when the Taliban swept in, they easily took control of the base, releasing the thousands of dangerous terrorists held in its high-security prison, including Kabul suicide bomber Abdul Rehman.
Rehman was initially apprehended as part of an ISIS-K terrorist plot to stage suicide bombings in New Delhi and other cities. Indian intelligence officials believe that these plots were probably planned at the behest of the Pakistan’s ISI (Inter-Service Intelligence Directorate).
According to sources, Rehman arrived in India ostensibly to study engineering at an institute in Noida. After securing his cover, Rehman moved to New Delhi where intercepted communications allowed the Research and Analysis Wing to place an agent into Rehman’s circle — ultimately leading to his capture.
Rather than prosecuting Rehman in India, the decision was made to extradite him to Kabul to facilitate the CIA’s investigation into the New Delhi plot. While at Bagram, Rehman was questioned by both the CIA and Afghanistan’s intelligence service. The information obtained from these interrogations led to the elimination of several Islamic State leaders in drone strikes.
Then the Biden administration abandoned Bagram, leaving these valuable terrorists in the hands of the Afghan forces who could do nothing to stop the Taliban because the US was no longer providing them any air support.
One Indian intelligence official blamed “America’s disorganized retreat from Afghanistan” for setting free hundreds of “highly competent” and committed terrorists, and allowing them to rejoin ISIS-K and al Qaeda.
Calling the consequences, “very far-reaching,” the official said that a decade of counter-terrorism work was undone “by the US’ failure to secure key prisoners in Bagram.”
A decade of counter-terrorism work and the lives of over 180 people – including thirteen American service members.
Despite all the destruction and chaos he unleashed, on Monday while speaking at the United Nations, President Joe Biden proudly declared that America has “turned the page” on Afghanistan.
