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Washington [US], January 11 (ANI): The succession of Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was killed in a US drone strike in Kabul on July 31, stays unclear, in keeping with a US intelligence official, reported Reuters.
To a query on the Al Qaeda’s ‘centre of gravity’ after Zawahiri’s demise, Christine Abizaid, Director of the US Nationwide Counterterrorism Centre on Tuesday stated, “The query for Al Qaeda, that it has not answered for itself, is who follows (Zawahiri)”, in an occasion organised by the Washington Institute.
A key 9/11 plotter, Zawahiri was reported to be dwelling in Pakistan until the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, most likely beneath the safety of the Pakistani intelligence company, the Inter-Companies Intelligence (ISI), reported European Basis for South Asian Research (EFSAS).
Notably, Saif al-Adel, a mysterious, low-key former Egyptian particular forces officer who’s a high-ranking member of Al Qaeda, is seen by consultants as the highest contender. The US is providing a reward of as much as USD 10 million for data resulting in his arrest, reported Reuters.
Abizaid additionally addressed the risk panorama within the US and stated the nation confronted an ‘unpredictable’ setting, including that People should stay vigilant about overseas-based extremist organizations equivalent to Al Qaeda and Islamic State.
“The web setting is the place a lot of the radicalization is going on,” she stated.
Her remarks echoed a latest evaluation by the Division of Homeland Safety, which stated in November that the US risk setting will stay heightened within the coming months, with lone offenders and teams motivated by a variety of ideologies posing a hazard, reported Reuters.
Earlier in December 2022, Al Qaeda launched an undated 35-minute video of its killed chief Al-Zawahiri. The group claimed that the recording was narrated by him.
In the meantime, the prospect of Pakistani involvement in Zawahiri’s focusing on has emerged as a contentious situation, even when neither the US nor Pakistan has publicly acknowledged such a task.
EFSAS, quoting a report by the New York Instances, stated for a few years it was believed that Zawahiri was hiding within the border space of Pakistan and it stays unclear why he returned to Afghanistan. Following the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, it’s believed that Zawahiri’s household returned to the protected home in Kabul.
Reviews quoting high intelligence sources have additionally claimed that Zawahiri was being sheltered in Karachi and that someday after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, he was moved to Kabul by way of the Chaman border by the Haqqani community.
Over the function of Pakistan in Zawahiri’s killing, a senior fellow on the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Michael Rubin stated he’s satisfied that Pakistan had a task in Zawahiri’s killing.
He underlined, “Pakistan’s financial system is in peril, and the nation is in peril of collapse.” (ANI)
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