Like many Yemeni men of his age, Hani Muhammad Mujahid had recently graduated high school in the late 1990s when he was recruited to travel to Afghanistan and join Al-Qaeda.
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TRAINING WITH AL-QAEDA
At the time, Al-Qaeda was allied with the Taliban and fully operational in Afghanistan, with several training camps throughout the country and its border region with Pakistan.
“I went there [to join Al-Qaeda] when I was young and not [fully] aware.”
JOINING AL-QAEDA
JOINING AL-QAEDA
Mujahid, who hailed from Yemen’s Taiz province, ended up at the Aynak and Al-Faruq training camps, where he was trained in the use of explosives and became so proficient that he was tasked with training other recruits.
WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
Though Mujahid denied to Al Jazeera that he had worked as a bomb-maker, Al Jazeera has confirmed that he did indeed perform that role.
As one of the youth who loved Sheikh Osama Bin Laden, and who believed in the jihad cause, I pledged bay’ah [an oath of allegiance] to [him].
TRAINING WITH AL-QAEDA
TRAINING WITH AL-QAEDA
After the 9/11 attacks, Mujahid and the rest of Al-Qaeda’s fighters mobilised in anticipation of a US invasion of Afghanistan.
ARREST IN PAKISTAN
Al-Qaeda was scattered by the force with which it was attacked by the US and its allies in Afghanistan, according to Mujahid, with several operatives killed and many arrested.
Eventually if an Afghan saw you walking in the street, he would immediately turn around and look for the American planes.
WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
BATTLES IN AFGHANISTAN
"I saw tragedies in Afghanistan. The Americans wanted to instill horror within the [Afghan] people so that they would distance themselves from Al-Qaeda."
BATTLES IN AFGHANISTAN
WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
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THE MEDIA'S WAR ON TALIBAN
THE MEDIA'S WAR ON TALIBAN
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WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
Mujahid was among the Al-Qaeda fighters who retreated from Afghanistan and set up operations in Pakistan’s Tribal Areas.
Based in Waziristan, from where he and his fellow Al-Qaeda fighters attacked US troops stationed in Afghanistan, Mujahid eventually found himself arrested and interrogated by both Pakistani intelligence and US intelligence officers.
“Al-Qaeda was, in a sense, torn apart. Sheikh Osama Bin Laden disappeared during the period [of most intensity following the US invasion of Afghanistan].”
ARREST IN PAKISTAN