A United Nations team said that after the killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul, Saif al Adel has become the new leader of the network.
According to a report in the Washington Examiner, the new leader of al Qaeda is Saif al Adel — a long-time jihadi who has spent years operating in Iran under the protection of the Iranian regime.
According to the Examiner, the UN monitoring team said its member countries had "flagged that al-Zawahiri’s evident presence in Kabul had been an embarrassment for the Taliban, which is seeking legitimacy as a governing authority, and that Al-Qaeda chose not to exacerbate this by acknowledging the death."
However, the Islamic Emirate said that these reports are untrue and that the Islamic Emirate has been the target of similar accusations for the past 20 years.
"Sadly, these are charges that have been made over the past 20 years, but they do not match the current situation in Afghanistan,” said Suhail Shaheen, the head of the Islamic Emirate's political office in Qatar.
"Regarding Zawahiri, I should say that the case is not related to Afghanistan. No result was found by the committee which was appointed to investigate the claims. What did they decide after all? It doesn't belong to the Afghans," said Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Islamic Emirate.
Some political analysts have different views on this.
"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is seeking recognition for their government, and, for this reason, it cannot confirm the American claim that Ayman al-Zawahri was killed in Kabul,” said Najiburahman Shamal, a political analyst.
"It's just a project, nothing more. If Ayman al-Zawahri was indeed killed in Afghanistan, the Americans and the Taliban should display the body to the press and prove that it was Ayman al-Zawahri,” said Aziz Marij, another political analyst.
Previously, the US has claimed that it has Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri in an airstrike in Kabul but has not provided any evidence.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has always emphasized that there is no evidence indicating that Ayman al-Zawahri was killed in Kabul.
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