On Thursday, the Taliban said that they had no knowledge of Ayman al-Zawahiri’s presence in Afghanistan. Zawahiri’s assassination is the biggest blow to Al Qaeda since US special forces killed Osama bin Laden in 2011 and called into question the Taliban’s pledge not to harbour militant groups. “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has no information about Ayman al-Zawahiri’s arrival and stay in Kabul,” said an official statement.
