The Taliban have not found the body of Ayman al-Zawahiri and are continuing investigations, group spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said on Thursday, after the United States said they killed the Al Qaeda leader in an airstrike in Kabul last month.
The United States killed Zawahiri with a missile fired from a drone while he stood on a balcony at his hideout in July, US officials said, in the biggest blow to Al Qaeda since US Navy SEALS shot dead Osama bin Laden more than a decade ago.
His death in Kabul raised questions about whether he received sanctuary from the Taliban, who had assured the United States as part of a 2020 agreement on the withdrawal of US-led forces that they would not harbour other militant groups.
Zawahiri, an Egyptian doctor, was closely involved in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US and was one of the world’s most wanted men.—Reuters
