The 61-minute, 37-second video of the al-Qaeda leader appeared mysteriously on September 11, the day of the terrorist attack 20 years ago, although rumors of his death have been circulating for several months.
The video was reported by an intelligence group monitoring jihadist websites. The Hindustan Times reports that the US agency SITE Intelligence Group, which specializes in monitoring jihadist groups, said the video was released on Saturday. According to Rita Katz, director of SITE, he may be dead.
In a video message, al-Zawahiri stated that “Jerusalem will never become Jewish,” and also praised al-Qaeda’s attacks, referring to the January attack on Russian troops in Syria.
It is also reported that al-Zawahiri mentioned the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan after a 20-year stay there, although an agreement on this was signed back in February 2020.
However, al-Zawahiri did not mention a word about the entry of the Taliban into Afghanistan and Kabul, mentioning only the January 1 attack on Russian troops on the outskirts of the city of Raqqa in northern Syria. In a video message, al-Zawahiri “praises” Saudi Arabian soldier Mohammed Said al-Shamrani, who shot three people at a US military base.
Since the end of last year, there have been rumors that al-Zawahiri died of an illness. Since then, until last Saturday, there has been no evidence of his death, nor any video of him.
Egyptian al-Zawahiri became the head of al-Qaeda after the assassination of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan by US Marines in 2011.
In 2019, al-Zawahiri threatened with further terrorist attacks on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. He called on Muslims to strike at targets in the United States, Europe, Israel and Russia, whose interests, in his opinion, spread throughout the world.
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