Intelligence documents released by the CIA reveal the Taliban warned Osama bin Laden to tighten his security in January 2000 following the December 1999 Kandahar hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight. The warning cautioned that the hostage crisis could prompt other governments
to launch operations against bin Laden.
CIA Intelligence Documents Reveal Taliban Security Warning to Osama bin Laden in 2000
The Taliban regime in Afghanistan warned Al Qaeda terrorist Osama bin Laden to upgrade his personal security in the wake of the Kandahar hijacking, according to intelligence documents released by the CIA. The warning was documented in the Presidential Daily Briefs presented to then-US President Bill Clinton in January 2000, which surfaced among 71 declassified files marking the 25th anniversary of the 2001 9/11 attacks.
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Presidential Daily Brief, January 3, 2000
The Kandahar Hijacking Crisis of December 1999
The security warning issued by the Taliban followed the crisis surrounding Indian Airlines Flight 814. The flight, traveling from Kathmandu to New Delhi on December 24, 1999, was hijacked by Harkat-ul Mujahideen terrorists and forced to land in Kandahar, according to the released intelligence. The standoff concluded on December 31, 1999, after India released three terrorists and handed them over to the Taliban.
Earlier CIA Briefings Detail Bin Laden’s Global Target List and Weapons Ambitions
Declassified records show that US intelligence tracked bin Laden’s operations and intent years prior to the 2001 attacks. A Presidential Daily Brief presented to Bill Clinton on August 28, 1998, indicated that bin Laden intended to launch attacks across multiple regions, including Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula—specifically Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen—as well as India, Pakistan, Uganda, and potentially Nigeria. The document noted that his established infrastructure in North America, Europe, and East Asia supported the credibility of reports that he also will target US interests in these regions.
An even earlier document from February 13, 1998, stated that bin Laden and other Islamic extremists had met to procure unspecified chemical, biological, and nuclear substances from open markets. The report said that bin Laden had legitimate companies, business relationships, and a financial empire that could assist his pursuit of the weapons. Furthermore, a September 10, 1998, brief warned that extremists might fly an explosive-packed airplane into a US city, specifically noting bin Laden’s stated preference to strike the US on its own soil in Washington, though the brief included a disclaimer that available intelligence offered no conclusive information on Bin Ladin’s intentions for future attacks.
Intelligence Reports Leading Up to the September 11 Attacks
The CIA release also includes documentation prepared for then-President George W. Bush regarding the preliminary results of a US-Yemen investigation into the October 12, 2000, bombing of the USS Cole in the port of Aden, Yemen. The final document in the declassified collection is dated September 12, 2001, providing a situation report on the intelligence surrounding bin Laden immediately following the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and an open field in Pennsylvania.
According to the September 12 briefing, the existence of a probable operation was widely known among extremists in Afghanistan, with indications that bin Laden may have relocated to Kabul to avoid conflict over his activities with the Taliban leadership in Kandahar.
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