Operation Cyclone trafficked weapons and funds to extremists via Pakistan, and many did not actually reach the target Afghanistan extremist groups, but were instead sold at local markets in Pakistan.

"Much of the aid was sold instead of reaching the intended recipients" is a far cry from "They funded and trained the groups that became the Taliban and AQ", and, as noted in the source, the most notable extremist recipient of the aid, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, was not part of or aligned with the Taliban or AQ.

[–] ShoeThrower@lemmy.zip -1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, was not part of or aligned with the Taliban or AQ.

Lmao.

Hekmatyar was said to be friendly with Osama bin Laden, founder of al-Qaeda, who was running an operation for assisting "Afghan Arab" volunteers fighting in Afghanistan, called Maktab al-Khadamat.

[–] PugJesus@piefed.social 2 points 4 days ago

He was literally driven out of Afghanistan by Taliban fighters during the civil war in the 90s.