No assistance provided in Ayman al-Zawahiri’s killing: Interior Minister

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has once again clarified that Pakistan did not provide any assistance in the operation to kill Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

While speaking to reporters, the interior minister ruled out the impression of Pakistan providing any assistance to the United States in the operation to strike Al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan.

He said the death of proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Umar Khalid Khorasani, who was involved in the various terror incidents, has been confirmed.

Rana Sanaullah said that the TTP has been weakened and negotiations with the terror group will be held in accordance with the law and constitution. He said the Pakistan Army has the capacity and strength to deal with the TTP.

He said the government has raised the issue of TTP negotiations in Parliament.  “If anyone is willing to surrender, since there are women and children with them, then talks can be held with them,” he added.

He has further said that TTP is involved in incidents of targeting police officers and army officers in Swat to increase pressure and armed forces are playing their role to deal with such incidents.

On August 1, President Joe Biden announced that the United States had killed Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, one of the world’s most wanted terrorists and suspected mastermind of the September 11.

In a televised address, Biden said the strike had been carried out in Kabul. “I gave the final approval to go get him,” he said, adding that there had been no civilian casualties.

A senior administration official said Ayman al-Zawahiri had been killed on the balcony of a house in Kabul in a drone strike, and that there had been no US boots on the ground in Afghanistan.

Diplomatic sources have found no evidence that Pakistani airspace or soil was used by the US for carrying out the drone strike that killed Ayman al-Zawahiri.

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