By Ahmed Shujja 

KABUL - Following a months-long investigation, Afghan Taliban says no proof was found that Americans had killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul last year.

“Our investigation is still continue but so far no proof found that Al-Qaeda chief was living in Kabul and American killed in drone attack last year,” Suhail Shaheen, head of Taliban political office in Qatar said. 

Shaheen while speaking in a Twitter space on commemorating the third anniversary of the agreement made between Afghan Taliban and the US in Doha.

Responding to a question of US drone attack in August last year and later President Joe Biden announcement that CIA killed al-Zawahiri in Kabul, Shaheen said it was Biden claim but there is no proof that Al-Qaeda chief was living in Kabul. 

“We investigated the claim but there was no proof that al-Zawahiri was in Kabul and the US killed him in drone while still our investigation is underway,” he said. 

“Therefore we could confirm that he [al-Zawahiri ] was killed or he was in Kabul,” he added. 

Shaheen also spoke on women's rights and restrictions imposed by the Taliban Government and said their government is working to establish separate education institutions for girls while Taliban never imposed any restrictions on women's rights. 

“We are the protector of women's rights, those rights which all women enjoy under Islamic law,” Shaheen said.

Shaheen praised US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and called him a good diplomat as compared to other Americans who were part of negotiations in Doha.

“I think Khalilzad was aware of the culture and system of Afghanistan and he knew how to talk and how to resolve any hurdles whenever created deadlock during the negotiations,” he said. 

On Wednesday, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan while addressing a ceremony,  commemorating the third anniversary of the agreement made with the United States in Doha, in Kabul, said that the 20-year occupation in Afghanistan has come to an end with the help of Allah and based on the Doha accord. 

“The final nail in the coffin of the occupation was driven on the 29th of February 2020, making it a significant day in the history of Afghanistan,” he said.

“The Political Commission of the Islamic Emirate, with full faith in God, had conducted talks with the US side without any fatigue and kept Sharia law and national values in mind.

He added that during those negotiations, there had been trust, sincerity, and honesty among all the leaders of the Islamic Emirate and the members of the negotiation team and every big and small issue had been consulted considering the Sharia law and national interests.

Baradar said that several people were spreading propaganda that Taliban may have secret deals with the United States which is a powerful country, but all of them proved wrong as there was no secret deal with the United States. 

“There is no base or foreign military in Afghanistan and the Islamic Emirate is ruling the entire country,” Baradar told the participants. 

“The Islamic Emirate has not violated the Doha agreement while the US, on the other hand, has not adhered to its commitments as they have imposed sanctions on Afghanistan, frozen the national assets of the Afghan people, kept the names of the Islamic Emirate's leaders on the "black list," and made it difficult for the Islamic Emirate to interact with the rest of the world.

 “The Islamic Emirate seeks positive interactions with the rest of the world and the US. The sanctions against Afghanistan should be lifted, and everything should be resolved through dialogue,” he concluded.