Al-Qaeda has accused Pakistani security forces of detaining the wife of its chief, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and two other families of the insurgent group’s “martyrs” for nearly a year.



In a statement, the leadership of al-Qaeda on Friday alleged “treacherous Pakistani forces” captured Zawahiri’s wife and others as they left the former Taliban stronghold of Waziristan bordering Afghanistan about a year ago due to continuous airstrikes.



“We ... hold Pakistan’s government and its treacherous army and their American masters responsible for their criminal acts,” the statement said.



There was no immediate comment from Pakistan.



Zawahiri, an Egyptian, became the leader of al-Qaeda following the 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan by US Navy SEALS. He is believed to be hiding somewhere in the region.

Last Update: Friday, 23 August 2019 KSA 16:58 - GMT 13:58 </s> Islamabad: Al-Qaeda has accused Pakistani security forces of detaining the wife of its chief, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and two other families of the insurgent group's "martyrs" for nearly a year.

In a statement, the leadership of al-Qaeda on Friday alleged "treacherous Pakistani forces" captured Zawahiri's wife and others as they left the former Taliban stronghold of Waziristan bordering Afghanistan about a year ago due to continuous airstrikes.

It said: "We ... hold Pakistan's government and its treacherous army and their American masters responsible for their criminal acts."

There was no immediate comment from Pakistan.

Zawahiri, an Egyptian, became leader of al-Qaeda following the 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan by U.S. Navy SEALS. He is believed to be hiding somewhere in the region.

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Subscribe to Moneycontrol Pro and gain access to curated markets data, trading recommendations, equity analysis, investment ideas, insights from market gurus and much more. Get Moneycontrol PRO for 1 year at price of 3 months. Use code FREEDOM. </s> New Delhi: Al-Qaeda leadership has accused Pakistan’s security forces of detaining the wife of its chief Ayman al-Zawahiri along with two other families of their ‘martyrs’ for nearly a year.

The insurgent group released a statement alleging that “treacherous Pakistani forces” had “captured” Chief Zawahiri’s wife while they were leaving Waziristan, former Taliban stronghold adjacent ot Afghanistan, about a year ago due to continuous airstrikes.

“We … hold Pakistan’s government and its treacherous army and their American masters responsible for their criminal acts,” read the statement, as reported by news agency Associated Press.

Pakistan has not given any immediate response to their statement.

Zawahiri, who hails from Egypt, took command as the leader of al-Qaeda following the 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan by United States Navy SEALS. He is believed to be hiding somewhere in the region.

Notably, the terror front ha been trying to make a comeback in Afghanistan under a resurgent Taliban, strengthening their alliance in their ‘jihad’. The Al-Qaeda and Taliban leadership have repeatedly stressed the importance of their nature of alliance as “military and religious instructors” for their jihadist motive, a UN report stated. </s> ISLAMABAD (AP) — Al-Qaida has accused Pakistani security forces of detaining the wife of its chief, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and two other families of the insurgent group’s “martyrs” for nearly a year.

In a statement, the leadership of al-Qaida on Friday alleged “treacherous Pakistani forces” captured Zawahiri’s wife and others as they left the former Taliban stronghold of Waziristan bordering Afghanistan about a year ago due to continuous airstrikes.

It said: “We … hold Pakistan’s government and its treacherous army and their American masters responsible for their criminal acts.”

There was no immediate comment from Pakistan.

Zawahiri, an Egyptian, became leader of al-Qaida following the 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan by U.S. Navy SEALS. He is believed to be hiding somewhere in the region.

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. </s> Pakistani security forces have detained the wife of Al-Qaeda chief, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and two other family members of the groups 'martyrs' for nearly a year, according to a statement released by the insurgent group on Friday.

Al-Qaeda claimed that "treacherous Pakistani forces" captured the family members including Al-Zawahri's wife a year ago as they left Waziristan, a former Taliban base bordering Afghanistan due to airstrikes, reported Associated Press.

"We ... hold Pakistan's government and its treacherous army and their American masters responsible for their criminal acts," the statement said.

The current leader of Al-Qaeda, al-Zawahri is an Egyptian who took over the group's leadership after US military forces killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan's Abbottabad region in 2011.

While Pakistan has not commented on the statement, Zawahiri is said to be hiding in the country.

Al-Qaeda's statement came a day after US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper confirmed the death of 9/11 mastermind's son, Hamza bin Laden.

The US official confirmation comes weeks after it was reported that he was killed during the last two years in an operation that involved the United States. Hamza who is believed, to be 30 years old, may have been killed before the US announced a $1 million bounty on him in February 2019.

According to the documents found in the Abottabad house, Bin Laden was preparing Hamza to replace him as the terror outfit's leader. Later on, Hamza was assumed to have donned the role of a deputy to the Alqaeda's current chief, Al-Zawahiri.

The United Nations Security Council reported that the deteriorating health of Al-Zawahiri has raised doubts about the global terrorist organisation's succession.

Pakistan has often been accused of supporting terrorists in Afghanistan including the Al-Qaeda. Yesterday, the terror watchdog Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) Asia Pacific Group placed Pakistan in its "enhanced expedited follow-up list".

The list, which is believed to be similar to be blacklisted, APG found the country non-complaint to 32 of the 40 parameters on money-laundering and terror financing.

The announcement came a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan said that 40 different militant groups were operating in Pakistan when the country joined US war on terror after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

"We were fighting the US war on terror. Pakistan has nothing to do with 9/11. Al-Qaeda was in Afghanistan. There were no militant Taliban in Pakistan. But we joined the US war. Unfortunately, when things went wrong, where I blame my government, we did not tell the US exactly the truth on the ground," the Pakistani PM said as quoted by news agency PTI.

However, India has accused Pakistan of its state-sponsor of promoting cross-border terrorism in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region.

Earlier this month, Indian intelligence reports stated Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has given terrorist group, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) full permission for conducting suicide bomb attacks in the valley and cause as many casualties as they can, without worrying about "collateral damage".

US President Donald Trump in the middle of negotiating peace talks in Afghanistan with the Taliban and the Afghan government.

The US government have stated that the withdrawal of US troops in a bid to end the 19-year war will be done over a period of time to ensure political stability and avoid security resurgence of Taliban's state control in the region. </s> The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.

On August 22, 2019, Al-Qaeda's central command released a statement via its media wing Al-Sahab condemning the Pakistani authorities for detaining the families of the foreign mujahideen for nearly a year at the behest of the U.S. intelligence services.[1] The statement names one of wives of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri among the families that were held in Pakistan after leaving Waziristan more than four years ago.

The statement begins by saying the "traitorous" Pakistani authorities have held, on the orders of U.S. intelligence, the mujahideen's families for nearly one year. The statement then lists the three families, including one of the wives of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri, as follows: Hajar Nazih Nushi Rashid, the widow of "martyr" Sufyan Al-Maghribi, and her children; Iman Nazih Nushi Rashid, the widow of "martyr" Abu 'Ubaydah Al-Maqdisi, and her children; and Sayyidah Muhammad Ahmad Halawah, the wife of Sheikh Ayman Al-Zawahiri.

Saying that the three women and their families were arrested in Pakistan after departing Waziristan more than four years ago due to "repeated bombardments," the statement adds that "all attempts at mediation and negotiation with the traitorous and agent Pakistani Army, which continues to detain these vulnerable families at the behest of their American masters, have failed so far."

The statement goes on to say that Al-Qaeda holds "the Pakistani government and its traitorous army and their American masters responsible for their criminal acts." The statement concludes by citing Quran 26:227: "And soon will the unjust assailants know what vicissitudes their affairs will take." </s> WASHINGTON: US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has confirmed the death of Hamza bin Laden, the son and designated heir of Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden.

"That's my understanding," Esper said in an interview late Wednesday (Aug 21) with Fox News, when asked if Hamza bin Laden was dead.

"I don't have the details on that. And if I did I'm not sure how much I could share with you," he added.

US media reported at the beginning of August that Hamza was killed during the last two years in an operation that involved the United States, citing US intelligence officials.

But President Donald Trump and other senior officials have refused to confirm or deny it publicly.

"I don't want to comment on it," Trump told reporters when asked.

The 15th of Osama bin Laden's 20 children and a son of his third wife, Hamza, thought to be about 30 years old, was "emerging as a leader in the Al-Qaeda franchise," the State Department said in announcing the reward.

Sometimes dubbed the "crown prince of jihad," he had put out audio and video messages calling for attacks on the United States and other countries, especially to avenge his father's killing by US forces in Pakistan in May 2011, the department said.

That work made him important in attracting a new generation of followers to the extremist group which carried out the Sep 11, 2001 attacks on the US which left nearly 3,000 dead.



His father's death in 2011 and the rise of the more virulent Islamic State group saw Al-Qaeda lose currency with younger jihadists, but the group appears to have been plotting a stealthy comeback under leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. </s> RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has stripped citizenship from Hamza bin Laden, the son of dead Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden, who is thought to be about 30, had his citizenship removed on Feb. 22, the official gazette Umm Al-Qura said on Friday.

The US State Department offered a reward of up to $1 million on Thursday for information leading “to the identification or location in any country” of bin Laden, who it described as a key Al-Qaeda leader.

“Since at least August 2015, he has released audio and video messages on the internet calling on his followers to launch attacks against the United States and its Western allies,” the department said.

Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces who raided his compound in Pakistan in 2011. Hamza was thought to be under house arrest in Iran at the time, and documents recovered from the compound suggested attempts to reunite him with his father.

Hamza was introduced by the new Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri in an audio message in 2015. He has called for acts of terrorism in Western capitals and threatened to take revenge against the US for his father’s killing, the State Department said in 2017 when it designated him as a global terrorist.

He also threatened to target Americans abroad and urged Saudi tribes to unite with Yemen’s Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to fight against Saudi Arabia, it said.

Bin Laden’s whereabouts have been the subject of speculation for years, with reports of him living in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria and Iran. </s> Osama bin Laden’s son Hamza, chosen heir to the leadership of Al-Qaeda, has been killed, US media reported Wednesday citing American officials.

NBC News said three US officials had confirmed they had information of Hamza bin Laden’s death, but gave no details of the place or date.

The New York Times subsequently cited two US officials saying they had confirmation that he was killed during the last two years in an operation that involved the United States.

Questioned by reporters in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump did not confirm or deny the NBC report.

“I don’t want to comment on it,” he said.

Both reports suggested that bin Laden may have been killed well before the US State Department announced a $1 million bounty on his head in February 2019.

The 15th of Osama bin Laden’s 20 children and a son of his third wife, Hamza, thought to be about 30 years old, was “emerging as a leader in the Al-Qaeda franchise,” the State Department said in announcing the reward.

Sometimes dubbed the “crown prince of jihad, he had put out audio and video messages calling for attacks on the United States and other countries, especially to avenge his father’s killing by US forces in Pakistan in May 2011, the department said.

Documents seized in the raid on his father’s house in Abbottabad suggested Hamza was being groomed as heir to the Al-Qaeda leadership.

US forces also found a video of the wedding of Hamza to the daughter of another senior Al-Qaeda official that is believed to have taken place in Iran.

Hamza bin Laden’s whereabouts have never been pinpointed. He was believed to have been under house arrest in Iran but reports suggest he also may have resided in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria.

The group behind the deadly September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Al-Qaeda’s prominence as a radical Islamist group has faded over the past decade in the shadow of the Islamic State group.

But the proliferation of branches and associated jihadist groups in Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria and elsewhere have underscored its continuing potency.

Hamza bin Laden was not targeted just because he was bin Laden’s son, said Rita Katz, executive director of the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks extremists.

“He was one of Al-Qaeda’s loudest voices calling for attacks in the West and giving directives. He, with Al-Qaeda’s help, was positioning himself to lead the global jihadi movement,” Katz said on Twitter.

“He was seen as a future leader who would unite the global jihad. Thus, if he is indeed dead, it will be a major blow to the movement,” she said.

At his father’s side in Afghanistan before the 9/11 attacks, Hamza learnt how to handle weapons, and ranted in his thin voice against Americans, Jews and “Crusaders” in videos uploaded online.

In 2016 Al-Qaeda released a video message in which he urged Islamic State and other jihadists in Syria to unite, claiming that the fight in the war-torn country paves the way to “liberating Palestine.”

“There is no longer an excuse for those who insist on division and disputes now that the whole world has mobilised against Muslims,” he said.

In a later message that year he called on Saudi youth to overthrow the kingdom’s rulers, telling them to enlist in the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to gain battlefield experience.

In 2017 he was placed on the US terrorist blacklist, seen as a potent future figurehead for the group then led by Osama bin Laden’s former deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri.

“With the Islamic State ‘caliphate’ apparently on the verge of collapse, Hamza is now the figure best placed to reunify the global jihadi movement,” former FBI special agent and Al-Qaeda specialist Ali Soufan wrote at the time of his blacklisting. – AFP
Al-Qaeda accuses "treacherous Pakistani forces" of detaining the wife and two other relatives of the group's leader Ayman al Zawahiri for over a year.