On Thursday, February 11, 2021, the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) held an online roundtable discussion on “Taliban and the Arab World". Abdullah Anas, writer and Algerian politician; Dr. Akram Arefi, university professor; Nazar Mohammad Mutmaeen, political analyst; and Hussain Ehsani, middle east affairs analyst. The event was moderated by Ferdaws Kawish, journalist.

Dr. Akram Arefi said that Taliban came to power with the support of Arab countries, and Pakistan. United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia were the only three countries that officially recognized Taliban. After the fall of Taliban, some Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia and Qatar, tried to Strengthen their ties with Taliban and succeeded. According to Dr. Arefi, Arab countries have always pursued passive policies towards Afghanistan, and in the future, the policies of Arab countries will be influenced by US policies.

Abdullah Anas believed that the Arab world does not have a single view of the Taliban; they can be divided into two groups; one group sympathize with Taliban and consider them 9/11 victims; the second group put Taliban on the train of al-Qaeda and ISIS and call them a terrorist group. According to Anas, 9/11 incident caused an irreparable blow to the Muslim world. The United States blamed al-Qaeda for the attack. But there are still many speculations about its accuracy. But it plunged Afghanistan into a new phase of violence.

In his speech, Nazar Mohammad Mutmaeen pointed out that Taliban emerged in areas where the Arab Mujahideen had no influence. He added that Taliban leaders knew that the United States would invade Afghanistan, and that 9/11 was just an excuse, and that is why relations between the Taliban and al-Qaeda continued after the fall of the Taliban government. He believes that if the United States had negotiated with Osama bin Laden twenty years ago after the 9/11 attacks, the issue would have been resolved and there would have been no need for a 20-year war.

Hussain Ehsani described the collaboration between the Taliban and non-Arab states; he explained that the Taliban needed fighters from Arab terrorist groups in the 1990s to increase their attacks. He also explained the current relationship between Taliban and al-Qaeda, pointing to many reasons the Taliban and al-Qaeda need each other to advance insurgency and terrorism. He explained that according to Al-Samoud propaganda magazine, Taliban did not think exclusively of power inside Afghanistan, but the Taliban's main goal was to liberate Quds, conduct operations inside Europe, and conquer Andalusia.