Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has said that Pakistan has not provided any help in the Ayman al-Zawahiri operation carried out by the United States in Kabul, reported 24NewsHD TV channel. 

Talking to media in Islamabad on Wednesday, Rana Sanaullah categorically stated that Pakistan had not provided any kind of help to the US in taking out Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. 

Top al-Qaeda leader and key 9/11 plotter Zawahiri was killed by a drone strike carried out by the US on July 30. After the drone strike, the media, both national and international, started speculating from where the drone flew. Many made a wild guess pointing to Pakistan’s assistance. But the Pakistan Foreign Office clearly denied the news. 

However, the US media reports claimed later that the American drone that eliminated Al-Qaeda leader Zawahiri in Kabul was possibly launched from an airbase in Kyrgyzstan. 

The US administration, however, has refused to disclose where the drone take-off from and what route it used. The Department of Defence only issued a brief statement, saying: “Zawahiri was killed in an over-the-horizon operation in downtown Kabul…”

Interior Minister Sanaullah also said that the death of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan commander Umar Khalid Khurasani in a roadside blast in Afghanistan had been confirmed saying that he was involved in terrible and deplorable terrorism incidents.

On dialogue with the TTP, the minister was of the view that the parleys with the outlawed group should be held according to the constitution. He held that the position of TTP had weakened and the Pakistan Army was fully capable to deal with them. 

Sanaullah said that the TTP was targeting police officers and Army in Swat in order to increase pressure on government. He said that forces were playing their role in dealing with these incidents. 

Talking about the peaceful culmination of Ashura processions across the country yesterday, the interior minister said that the federal government provided utmost cooperation to all provincial governments as well as Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan governments to ensure security arrangements from first to 10th of Muharram.

He informed that around 7,000 processions and over 50,000 Majaalis took place across Pakistan which culminated peacefully. 

He said over 16,000 Rangers personnel performed their duties during Muharram and no untoward incident was reported anywhere in the country.