A significant part of the Al-Qaeda leadership resides in the Afghanistan and Pakistan border region, including the group's elusive leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is "probably alive but too frail to be featured in propaganda," according to a United Nations report.
The report, issued on Friday, said that large numbers of Al-Qaeda fighters and other foreign extremist elements aligned with the Taliban are located in various parts of Afghanistan, reports the New Indian Express.
"Member states reported that a significant part of Al-Qaeda leadership remains based in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the core is joined by and works closely with Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent," the twelfth report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team said.
Reports of death unconfirmed
Al Qaeda leader, Aiman Muhammed Rabi al-Zawahiri, is believed to be located somewhere in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Previous reports of his death due to ill health have not been confirmed.
"One member state reports that he is probably alive but too frail to be featured in propaganda," the report said, without identifying the country.
It said Al-Qaeda's strategy in the near term is assessed as maintaining its traditional safe haven in Afghanistan for the Al-Qaeda core leadership.
The Monitoring Team noted assessments that have suggested a longer-term Al-Qaeda core strategy of "strategic patience" for a period of time before it would seek to plan attacks against international targets again.
Al-Qaeda, including Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, is reported to number in the range of several dozen to 500 persons.
Al-Qaeda core's membership is of non-Afghan origin, consisting mainly of nationals from North Africa and the Middle East.
"The report said Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent operates under the Taliban umbrella from Kandahar, Helmand [notably Baramcha] and Nimruz Provinces.
"The group reportedly consists of primarily Afghan and Pakistani nationals, but also individuals from Bangladesh, India and Myanmar," reads the New Indian Express report.
The UN report added that Al-Qaeda continued to suffer attrition during the period under review - between May 2020 and April 2021 - with a number of senior figures killed, often alongside Taliban associates while co-located with them.
