Since 2020, Al Qaeda's chief Ayman Al Zawahiri, who served as deputy to Osama bin Laden, was presumed dead but a new video released on 9/11 featuring the Egyptian doctor has ignited a new debate.
According to a report published on TRT World, the video shows Zawahri speaking on Jerusalem, praising Al Qaeda for attacks including one that targeted Russian troops in Syria in January.
The US-based SITE monitoring group tweeted about the video in which Zawahiri also mentions the US troops withdrawal from Afghanistan but does not say anything about the Taliban takeover.
The video is an hour and 7 minutes and produced by Shahab Media cell.
SITE says the comments do not necessarily mean a recent recording given that the withdrawal agreement was signed with the Taliban in February 2020.
“He could still be dead, though if so, it would have been at some point in or after January 2021,” tweeted Rita Katz, SITE's director in a long thread discussing Al Qaeda.
As she also notes, the 9/11 anniversary, tragic as it is, is a positive one for the terrorist group.
Some media users took to Twitter to discuss what impact, if any, the surfacing of this video may have.
Much of the Arab world's media has denounced Al Qaeda's actions as terrorism.
While other officials suggested that Zawahiri may be alive and in Afghanistan under Taliban protection.