Denial contradicts US officials who say al-Qaida leader was staying at home of Taliban leader\u2019s aide
\n KABUL
\nThe Taliban leadership has said they did not know that al-Qaida boss Ayman al-Zawahiri had moved to the Afghan capital, Kabul, where the US president, Joe Biden, said he was killed by a drone strike at the weekend.
\n\u201cThe Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has no information about Ayman al-Zawahiri\u2019s arrival and stay in Kabul,\u201d the militants said in a statement, that used their chosen name for their unrecognised regime.
\nThe statement was released more than three days after the hit on a house in the capital\u2019s Sherpur district.
\nTaken at face value, the claim is an extraordinary one. It suggests the Taliban have little control over the heart of their capital, including the heavily guarded area frequented by some of their most elite leadership.
\nIt also implies they were unable to track or control a terror group whose status was a key part of the 2020 deal with Washington that paved the way for US troops to leave, and the Taliban to return to power.
\nUnder the Doha agreement, the Taliban promised the US that Afghanistan would not host terror groups that threatened the US and its allies.
\nThe interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, just two days before the drone strike told an Indian news outlet that al-Qaida was a \u201cdead\u201d organisation with no presence in Afghanistan.
\nHowever, US officials have said the apartment where Zawahiri was killed was rented by one of Haqqani\u2019s aides.
\nIf the Taliban denial seems barely plausible, it was perhaps the only way out of a political bind created by Zawahiri\u2019s assassination.
\nThe Taliban are still seeking international recognition for their rogue regime, hoping it may cushion an economic collapse by ending sanctions and releasing funds for aid and business. An aggressive response to Zawahiri\u2019s death would not further that cause.
\nHowever, al-Qaida and its leadership are revered by many in the group\u2019s ranks, who are also likely to see a drone strike in the heart of the capital as an assault on their sovereignty. So they could not afford to ignore the hit on Zawahiri.
\nSuhail Shaheen, the Taliban\u2019s designated delegate to the UN who is based in Doha, said the regime was investigating both whether Zawahiri had been in Kabul, and whether he had been killed, and would share its findings.
\n\u201cInvestigation is under way now to find out about veracity of \u2026 both claims,\u201d he said in a text message to reporters.
\nThe Taliban also said in the statement they wanted \u201cto implement the Doha pact\u201d, and there was no threat to America from Afghanistan.
\nHowever, the statement condemned Washington for \u201cinvad[ing] our territory and violat[ing] all international principles\u201d with the attack, and made a barely veiled warning that it would consider retaliation in case of future drone strikes.
\nSeveral members of the government, including Haqqani, still have bounties on their heads in relation to past terror attacks and reportedly live in fear of assassination attempts, keeping a low profile and moving regularly.
\n\u201cIf such action is repeated, the responsibility of any consequences will be on the United States of America,\u201d the statement said.
\nIt was an open secret in many Kabul circles that the neighbourhood was full of \u201cArabs\u201d, a term understood to refer to al-Qaida operatives and their families.
\nDespite the Taliban\u2019s insistence that they did not know if the al-Qaida boss was on their doorstep, or if he was killed, the area swarmed with elite troops soon after an explosion on Sunday morning, and is now heavily guarded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Denial contradicts US officials who say al-Qaida leader was staying at home of Taliban leader\u2019s aide KABUL The Taliban leadership has said they did not know that al-Qaida boss Ayman al-Zawahiri had moved to the Afghan capital, Kabul, where the US president, Joe Biden, said he was killed by a drone strike at the weekend. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275687,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-275678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n