John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show on Monday, responded to a question on whether the Taliban was aware of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri’s presence in Kabul. A group whose leader is Sirajuddin Haqqani, Afghanistan’s Minister of Interior, is aware of this. And we know this because they have tried to cover up the facts in the last 24, 48 hours.” Kirby also said that Zawahiri’s presence in Kabul poses a threat to the US homeland because he plays an active role in the planning and development of future threat plans against our homeland.
Host Rachel Maddow said, “Do you believe – the administration believes that the Taliban know that Zawahiri is in Kabul? Frankly, the rationale for invading Afghanistan in 2001 is that the Taliban attacked Zawahiri, bin Laden, and al-Qaeda on the eve of 9/11. “It was a safe haven. Do they know you’re back in Afghanistan, in Kabul?”
Kirby said, “We know that some of the top leaders of the Haqqani network know. And we know this because they have tried to cover up the facts in the last 24, 48 hours. It’s really about how far I can go with it. But we have signs that some of them are conscious. Look, I mean, even though the President has decided to end this war, al-Qaeda is in Afghanistan and we know that and we talked about it, al-Qaeda has re-established a presence there. We also said that we would be watching very closely, staying vigilant and making sure we have the opportunity to fight any threats to the homeland from a perspective beyond the horizon. Mr. Zawahiri’s presence in Kabul certainly passes this test because he takes an active part in planning and planning future threats to our homeland.”
Source: Breitbart
