Pakistan sacrificed Zawahiri for US cooperation, claims Pakistani journalist

New York: The United States has warned its citizens worldwide to be careful after the killing of al-Zawahiri. The US State Department made this suggestion to its citizens worldwide, given the possibility that al-Qaeda terrorists would target American citizens to avenge Zawahiri’s killing. At the same time, questions are being raised about where exactly the US’s MQ-9 Reaper drone, which targeted Zawahiri, took off and whether Pakistan’s airspace was used for the attack. Moreover, there has also been talking that Pakistan provided the information about Zawahiri to US Intelligence agency CIA. Journalists of Pakistan themselves are saying that Pakistan may have sacrificed Zawahiri to get the cooperation of the US. American media claimed al-Zawahiri was in Pakistan before coming to Kabul, Afghanistan. It is also claimed that Aziz Haqqani, commander of the Haqqani group of the Taliban, brought Zawahiri to Kabul in May. The Haqqani Network is a group of the Taliban with ties to Pakistan. Therefore, there is a strong possibility that Pakistan may have informed the United States about Zawahiri’s whereabouts. This has again exposed to the world that Pakistan is playing both sides in the war against terrorism.

Pakistani media is drawing attention to the fact that a few days before the attack on Zawahiri, Pakistan’s army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, discussed this with US leaders and officials. The International Monetary Fund has withheld credit assistance from Pakistan. At the same time, Pakistan is not yet out of the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force-FATF. An elderly journalist in Pakistan claimed that the Pakistan Army had provided information about Zawahiri to the United States in return for both of these things. Pakistan has realized that there is no solution except to get cooperation from the United States.

After Pakistan refused to cooperate with the US in its military campaign in Afghanistan, Pakistan had to do something to appease the angry United States. This Pakistani journalist says that Pakistan may have tried to win back the favour of the United States by sharing intel on Zawahiri.

At the same time, questions are being raised about where precisely the US’s MQ-9 Reaper drone, which targeted Zawahiri, took off and whether Pakistan’s airspace was used for the attack. Some analysts have also questioned whether the US had taken prior permission if Pakistan’s airspace was used for the attack. Analysts have expressed concern that if Pakistan has allowed the use of its airspace and shared intel for this US attack, the country will have to face dire consequences. Analysts fear that the Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists will teach Pakistan a lesson for assisting in killing their leader.