Slahi traveled from his home in Germany to Afghanistan in December 1990 "to support the mujahideen." At that time, the mujahideen in Afghanistan were attempting to topple the communist government of Mohammad Najibullah. The United States also supported the mujahideen against Najibullah. Slahi trained in an al Qaeda camp and swore "bayat" to the organization in March 1991. He returned to Germany soon after, but traveled back to Afghanistan for two months in early 1992. Slahi said that, after leaving Afghanistan the second time, he "severed all ties with ... al-Qaeda." The U.S. government maintains that Slahi "recruited for al-Qaeda and provided it with other support" since then.