The group insisted in a statement that it has “no knowledge of the arrival and stay” of al-Zawahri in Afghanistan. The statement marked the first time the Taliban addressed Sunday’s drone strike that killed the head of the al-Qaida network on the balcony of a Kabul safe house, which US officials said was linked to a Taliban leader. The killing of al-Zawahri has further strained relations between the Taliban and the West, particularly as they seek an urgent infusion of cash to deal with an economic disaster there after the US pulled out of the country a year ago. The Taliban had promised in the 2020 Doha Agreement with the US that they would not harbor al-Qaeda members or those seeking to attack the US In Thursday’s statement, the Taliban appeared to address those concerns. They said they have “ordered detection and intelligence agencies to conduct serious and comprehensive investigations into various aspects of the reported incident.”
“no risk”
The statement also contained assurances to the West, saying “there is no danger from Afghanistan’s soil to any country, including America.” He said the Taliban want the implementation of the Doha Agreement. The strike early Sunday rocked Shirpur, once a district of historic buildings that were bulldozed in 2003 to make way for luxury homes for officials of Afghanistan’s Western-backed government and international aid agencies. After the US withdrawal in August 2021, senior Taliban moved into some of the abandoned houses there. US officials said al-Zawahri was staying at the home of a top aide to senior Taliban leader Shirajuddin Haqqani. Haqqani is the deputy head of the Taliban, serves as the interior minister in their government and heads the Haqqani network, a powerful faction within the Taliban movement.
Leadership rivals
The Haqqani network is an Afghan Islamic insurgent group formed around the family of the same name. In the 1980s, it fought Soviet forces, and for the past 20 years, it has fought US-led NATO troops and the former government of Afghanistan. The US government maintains $10 million in US funding to Sirajuddin Haqqani for attacks on US troops and Afghan civilians. However, the Haqqani, from Afghanistan’s eastern Khost province, have rivals in the Taliban leadership, mainly from the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar. Some believe that Sirajuddin Haqqani wants more power. Other Taliban figures have spoken out against Haqqani attacks on civilians in Kabul and elsewhere during the insurgency. In the first half of 2022, Ayman al-Zawahri increasingly reached out to supporters with video and audio messages, including assurances that al-Qaeda could compete with the Islamic State group for leadership of a global movement, according to a report by Analytica Service of the United Nations. The Sanctions Support and Monitoring Group said.
