India Today reached the Wazir Akber Khan area of Kabul, which resembles a war zone after al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a US drone strike last month.
al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a US drone strike last month (File photo)
A pitted road, ruined houses and mounds of debris mark the site in Afghanistan’s Kabul where a US airstrike killed dreaded al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri last month.
The drone strike came just shy of a year since the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, which had prompted the US forces posted in the war-ravaged country to beat a hasty retreat and withdraw after a 20-year stay.
India Today reached the Wazir Akber Khan area of Kabul, a once-posh residential neighbourhood that now resembles a war zone in the wake of the lethal drone strike.
‘THERE WAS NOTHING’
Construction crews are hard at work to rebuild the roads that were destroyed in the hail of Hellfire missiles fired by the US military drone. One of the engineers on the spot, Sheikh Zain, told India Today that they had heard something had happened in the area early on the morning of July 31, a Sunday.
However, no information was shared with them or anyone else in the neighbourhood by the Taliban government as to what exactly had taken place, he said.
“When we came to work, there was nothing. No one told us anything. We just do the work,” said Sheikh Zain.
While Taliban officials have confirmed the drone strike, they have consistently maintained that there were no casualties. Last week, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the body of Ayman al-Zawahiri has not been found and they are continuing investigations.
READ | What Ayman al-Zawahiri’s killing means for Al-Qaeda and international security
PAK HAND IN DRONE STRIKE?
Sources revealed that the Taliban government is also suspicious that its neighbour Pakistan played a role in the airstrike. According to investigations, the attack drone may have been launched from Peshawar and Pakistan could have helped the US by providing intelligence, the sources said.
A close aide of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, Zawahiri succeeded him as al-Qaeda chief after his killing by US Navy Seals in Pakistan’s Abottabad in 2011. Zawahiri’s presence in the Afghan capital raised questions about whether he received sanctuary from the Taliban.
— ENDS —