Al-Qaeda pledges allegiance to new Taliban leader

A man believed to be al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri pledged allegiance to the new leader of the Taliban in a recently released audio recording.

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Photo: Reuters

"As the leader of al-Qaeda, I pledge my allegiance to you," a man's voice resembling al-Zawahiri's says in the recording.

According to CNN, the statement appears to have been recorded on May 27. However, the channel said it could not verify its authenticity. The recording may have first appeared on social media.

Last month, Haibatullah Akhundzada was elected as the new leader of the Taliban after the previous leader, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan. Akhundzada had been a close deputy to Mansour.

The man believed to be al-Zawahiri also said that al-Qaeda was "deeply saddened" by Mansour's death.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, a former doctor, joined al-Qaeda and became the leader of the organization after terrorist leader Osama bin Laden was killed by US Navy SEALs in Pakistan in 2011. According to some sources, al-Zawahiri is hiding in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area.

According to VNE