#Taliban #information #Qaeda #boss #Zawahiri #Afghanistan
The Taliban said Thursday they were unaware of Ayman al-Zawahiri’s presence in Afghanistan, days after US President Joe Biden announced the killing of the al-Qaeda chief in a drone strike in Kabul.
The assassination of Zawahiri is the worst blow to al-Qaeda since US special forces killed Osama bin Laden in 2011 and calls into question the Taliban’s promise not to harbor militant groups.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has no information regarding the arrival and whereabouts of Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul,” read an official statement — the first mention of his name by the Taliban since Biden’s announcement.
Zawahiri was believed to be responsible for directing al Qaeda’s operations – including the September 11 attacks – as well as being bin Laden’s personal physician.
A senior US government official said the 71-year-old Egyptian was attacked by two Hellfire missiles on the balcony of a three-storey house in the Afghan capital early Sunday.
Thursday’s carefully worded Taliban statement neither confirmed his presence in Afghanistan nor acknowledged his death.
“The leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has instructed the secret services to conduct comprehensive and serious investigations,” it said.
“The fact that America has invaded our territory and violated all international principles, we once again condemn the action in the strongest possible terms.
“If such an action is repeated, responsibility for all consequences rests with the United States of America.”
The Taliban reiterated in their statement that there was “no threat” to any country from Afghan soil.
They urged Washington to abide by the Doha Pact signed in February 2020, which paved the way for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan and ended two decades of US-led military intervention in the country.
Announcing Zawahiri’s death on Tuesday, Biden said the families of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks had “justice served.”
Sunday’s drone strike was the first known US over-the-horizon attack on a target in Afghanistan since Washington withdrew its forces from the country on August 31 last year, days after the Taliban regained power.
The home affected by the strike is in Sherpur, one of Kabul’s most affluent neighborhoods, where several villas are occupied by senior Taliban officials and commanders.
Zawahiri took over al-Qaeda after bin Laden was killed and had a $25 million bounty on his head.
News of his death comes a month before the first anniversary of the final withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, leaving the country in the hands of the Taliban insurgency, which has been battling Western forces since the US-led invasion in 2001.
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