Haqqani network sheltered Zawahiri - US State Department alleges -

Washington: US State Department spokesman Ned Price said that Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri was sheltered in Kabul by senior leaders of the Haqqani network in the Taliban. This reveals the connection between the Haqqani network and Al Qaeda. The death of Zawahiri in Kabul exposed the cooperation between the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and the United States accused the Taliban of violating the agreement with the United States. Price has given the reason that billions of dollars of Afghanistan funds frozen by the US will not be returned given this.

Moreover, Al Qaeda chief Zawahiri was killed in a US drone strike in Kabul about three weeks ago. After this, the Taliban accused the United States of violating the Doha agreement. But Zawahiri was kept in a building controlled by the influential Haqqani network in the Taliban, and the United States announced that an attack was launched on this building. The Haqqani Network had rejected these US claims and claimed that it did not know about Zawahiri.

But two days ago, when the US State Department announced the crackdown on Zawahiri, it reiterated that the Haqqani network had harboured the Al Qaeda chief. US State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the enior officials of the Haqqani network in Taliban sheltered Zawahiri in Kabul and deliberately withheld this information. Price said the Haqqani Taliban network violated the Doha agreement by harbouring Zawahiri.

According to the agreement reached in Qatar’s capital Doha last year, it was decided that the Taliban, who established the regime in Afghanistan, should not have any relationship with Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. Therefore, the US is accusing the Taliban of trampling the Doha Agreement as Zawahiri was found in Kabul. This was the same reason Price gave last year for refusing to release Afghanistan’s frozen funds of nine and a half billion dollars. Also, international analysts claim that the Biden administration has provided that the Taliban regime will not receive international recognition.

Meanwhile, Pakistan provided information about Zawahiri’s whereabouts to the United States. It is also claimed that General Bajwa, the Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan, cleared the airspace for US drone attacks. General Bajwa is trying to mend strained relations with the United States through action against Zawahiri. But due to this, the antipathy toward Pakistan has increased in the Taliban and Pakistani journalists are warning that the drone attack on Zawahiri may have repercussions in Pakistan. The journalists fear that the Haqqani network, affiliated with Pakistan’s military so far, may also turn against Pakistan.