“Taliban 5” Travel Ban Set to Expire June 1, 2015 — Major Operatives No Longer Restricted to Qatar

CNN’s Randi Kaye discusses the expiration of the Taliban 5 travel ban and how the U.S. is tracking terrorists with Steven Rogers, former member of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and Jonathan Gilliam, former FBI Special Agent.

Former FBI Special Agent believes there is no reliable way to track the Taliban 5 once they are released from their year-long travel ban in Qatar. Steven Rogers, former member of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force believes the Taliban 5 will be out for revenge against citizens of the United States.

Responding to FBI Director James Comey’s comment that he does not have high confidence that the FBI is tracking terrorist effectively, Steven Rogers said he believes police departments need to be involved in local gathering of intelligence on terrorists. Gilliam believes there is lack of an overall strategy of involvement of local law enforcement.

The Taliban Five were high-ranking members of the Afghanistan Taliban government and long-term Afghan detainees at Guantanamo Bay. They were exchanged for United States Army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl.The Taliban Five were released from Guantanimo to custody in Doha, Qatar on June 1, 2014.

The Taliban Five …

Mohammad Fazl served as Chief of Staff of the Taliban Army. He was associated with terrorist groups opposing US and Coalition forces. According to documents from the Joint Task Force Guantánamo, Fazl is “wanted by the UN for possible War crimes including the murder of thousands of Shiites”. The document stated Fazl has become a recruiting symbol for the Taliban.

Khairullah Khairkhwa was the interior minister under the Taliban. He helped found the Taliban in 1994. He was directly associated with Osama Bin Laden and Taliban Supreme Commander Mullah Muhammad Omar. Likely involved with militant training, he was also “a narcotics trafficker and probably used his position and influences to become one of the major opium drug lords in Western Afghanistan”, and probably used profits from drugs to promote Taliban interests.

Norullah Noori served as the governor of Balkh and Laghman provinces in the Taliban regime. Noori was a senior Taliban military commander in Mazar-e-Sharif, and is “wanted by the United Nations for possible war crimes including the murder of thousands of Shiite Muslims” along with Fazl. According to Barnett Rubin, they were “responsible for ethno-sectarian massacres in northern Afghanistan” along with their enemies.

Mohammed Nabi Omari was the Taliban’s chief of communications. Nabi had operational ties to Anti-Coalition Militia (ACM) groups including al-Qaida, the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, and the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin. Mohammed Nabi Omari also maintained weapons caches, and facilitated the smuggling of fighters and weapons.

Abdul Haq Wasiq was deputy chief of the Taliban regime’s intelligence service. Wasiq had direct access to Taliban and Hezb-e-Islarni Gulbuddin leaders, and was “central to the Taliban’s efforts to form alliances with other Islamic fundamentalist groups to fight alongside the Taliban against US and Coalition forces after the September 11. 2001 attacks”.