Taliban: 'We Didn't Know al-Zawahiri Was Living In Our Capital'

The Taliban leadership said they did not know that al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri had moved to the Afghan capital, Kabul, where the US president, Joe Biden, said he had been killed by a drone strike last month.

- Emma Graham-Harrison

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has no information about Ayman al-Zawahiri's arrival and stay in Kabul," the militants said, using their chosen name for their unrecognised regime.

Taken at face value, the claim is extraordinary. It suggests the Taliban have little control over the heart of their capital, including the heavily by some of guarded area frequented their most elite leadership.

It 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.

Under the Doha agreement, the Taliban promised the US that Afghanistan would not host terror groups that threatened the US and its allies.

The interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, told an Indian news outlet two days before the drone strike that al-Qaida was a "dead" organisation with no presence in Afghanistan. However, US officials have said the apartment where Zawahiri was killed was rented by one of Haqqani's aides.

If the Taliban denial seems barely plausible, it was perhaps the only way out of a political bind created by Zawahiri's assassination.

The Taliban are still seeking international recognition for their regime, hoping it may cushion an economic collapse by ending sanctions and releasing funds for aid and business. An aggressive response to Zawahiri's death would not further that cause.