More On: Ayman al-Zawahiri
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Al-Zawahiri took over for Osama bin Laden as leader of Al-Qaeda in 2011.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of the international jihadist terror organization Al-Qaeda, “is confirmed to be alive,” a United Nations report revealed on Tuesday.
“Ayman al Zawahiri, the head of Al Qaeda who served as Osama bin Laden’d deputy on 9/11, ‘is confirmed to be alive’ and is ‘communicating freely,’ according to a report from the United Nations’ Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team [sic]. Additionally, the UN said the Taliban-Al Qaeda alliance remains strong,” the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Long War Journal relayed on July 19.
“While it is not news that Zawahiri is alive, well, and communicating comfortably, some terrorism analysts previously claimed Zawahiri was dead as recently as Nov. 2020. While not explicitly stated, Zawahiri is likely operating inside Afghanistan,” the journal noted.
Ayman al Zawahiri is alive; Taliban and Al Qaeda "remain close," UN reports – https://t.co/8tBiQoiukY pic.twitter.com/kzgZS4PCx7
— Long War Journal (@LongWarJournal) July 20, 2022
Al-Zawahiri took over for Osama bin Laden as leader of Al-Qaeda in 2011. Bin Laden planned the terrorist attacks on U.S. soil on September 11, 2001, which led the U.S. to start the War in Afghanistan (2001-2021). After the September 11 attacks, Washington thought that the Taliban terror group was hiding bin Laden in Afghanistan and giving safe haven to Al-Qaeda members in general. In May 2011, a special unit of the U.S. military killed bin Laden in Pakistan.
This handout picture of a video grab provided by the SITE Intelligence Group on February 12, 2012 shows Al-Qaeda’s chief Ayman al-Zawahiri at an undisclosed location making an announcement in a video-relayed audio message posted on jihadist forums. (AFP PHOTO/SITE INTELLIGENCE GROUP)
On August 15, 2021, the Taliban took control of Kabul. This got rid of the U.S.-backed government that had been running Afghanistan for almost 20 years. Since then, the Sunni Islam-based group has used Islamic law, or sharia, as the basis for Afghanistan's law code, just like it did when it ran Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, from 1996 to 2001.
According to a U.N. report cited by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies on Tuesday, the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan over the past year has helped its longtime partner, Al-Qaeda, get back on its feet.
In a recent report on Al-Qaeda, the U.N. Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team said, "Member States note that al-Zawahiri seems to be more comfortable and able to communicate at the same time that the Taliban took over Afghanistan and key Al-Qaeda allies became more powerful in their de facto government."
"[Al- Qaeda's] leadership is said to give advice to the Taliban, and the two groups stay close," the analysis says.
Al-Zawahiri was in a video that was posted online on April 5. In it, he praised an Indian Muslim woman for shouting "Allahu akbar," which means "Allah is the greatest" in Arabic, at a group of Hindu nationalists in southern India's Karnataka state in February. During a nine-minute video, Al-Zawahri talked about the fight between Hindus and Muslims in Karnataka on February 8. As-Sahab, which is Al-official Qaeda's media arm, put his address on the Internet.
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