Al-Qaeda leader circulates new video to dispel rumours of his death
Rumors of the death of Ayman al-Zawahri have circulated for more than two years, but in a video released on Tuesday and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, the reclusive al Qaida chief praises Muskan Khan who defied a ban on the wearing of the hijab in schools in India's southwestern state of Karnataka.
There is no clear indication of the location of Zawahri from the video. He is shown in a traditional white head scarf beside a poster praising “the noble woman of India.” Zawahri has been rumored to be Afghanistan's northwestern Kunar and Badakhshan provinces on the border with Pakistan. The border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan is lined with inhospitable mountain ranges that have served as redoubts for a number of terrorist groups in the region.