The succession of Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was killed in a US drone strike in Kabul on July 31, stays unclear, based on 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 mentioned, “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 below the safety of the Pakistani intelligence company, the Inter-Providers Intelligence (ISI), reported European Basis for South Asian Research (EFSAS).
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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 specialists as the highest contender. The US is providing a reward of as much as USD 10 million for info resulting in his arrest, reported Reuters.
Abizaid additionally addressed the risk panorama within the US and mentioned the nation confronted an ‘unpredictable’ atmosphere, including that People should stay vigilant about overseas-based extremist organizations equivalent to Al Qaeda and Islamic State.
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“The net atmosphere is the place many of the radicalization is happening,” she mentioned.
Her remarks echoed a latest evaluation by the Division of Homeland Safety, which mentioned in November that the US risk atmosphere 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 concentrating on has emerged as a contentious challenge, even when neither the US nor Pakistan has publicly acknowledged such a task.
EFSAS, quoting a report by the New York Occasions, mentioned 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 secure home in Kabul.
Studies quoting prime 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 mentioned he’s satisfied that Pakistan had a task in Zawahiri’s killing.
He underlined, “Pakistan’s economic system is in peril, and the nation is in peril of collapse.”