Pakistan released two daughters of al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri and another woman in exchange for former Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani’s abducted son, a media report has claimed, throwing new light on the terrorist outfit’s reach inside the country.
The Long War Journal, a project of the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, has based its report on the 20th edition of Al-Masra magazine — affiliated with the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) — published in late August, which said the prisoners’ swap took place weeks ago.
Not verified
However, the news could not be independently verified as there has been no report on the abduction of Gen. Kayani’s son, who was not named in the report.
“If the jihadist organisation is merely boasting, then that is noteworthy. But if al-Qaeda did manage to kidnap Kayani’s son and force the Pakistani government’s hand, then this indicates Zawahiri’s men have a disturbingly long reach inside of Pakistan,” the report said.
It said the editors of the Al-Masra magazine included a box highlighting the story on the front-page saying “detaining” the “son of the Pakistani Army Commander” led to the release.
Series of tweets
The newsletter’s authors claimed a series of tweets posted online in mid-August provided the insider details of the story. In a tweet, a jihadist reportedly accused the Pakistan Army of detaining Zawahiri’s daughters, as well as the daughter of Sheikh Murjan Salem al Jawhari, as part of its “infidel” war on the mujahideen.
The Twitter account has now been suspended.
Zawahiri’s daughters and the other woman, along with their children, were reportedly returned to Egypt.
“It isn’t clear if the purported exchange took place in late July or early August,” the report said
