Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri surfaced in a new video in which he appeared to praise Indian student Muskan Khan who had confronted a group of men who were reportedly opposed to women wearing Hijab.
The video was verified by SITE intelligence, a counter-terror agency which tracks online activity of terror organisations.
In the video, Zawahiri appeared to call the woman his “sister” and said he had even written a poem praising her courage. The video titled “The Noble Woman of India” was released by As-Sahab Media which is Al Qaida’s media wing.
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The terrorist leader said he had come to know about Muskan through social media in the nine-minute video. Zawahiri said he was “moved” by Muskan’s act as he criticised countries which have banned Hijab. The Al Qaeda terrorist also accused Bangladesh of Pakistan of being “allies of West”.
The whereabouts of Zawahiri are still unknown. Last year in November a video had surfaced in which had criticised the UN for being hostile to Islam.
In a video in February, Zawahiri had asked Muslims worldwide to champion the cause of the “oppressed” in a series called “deal of the century or the crusade of the century”.
Zawahiri had also posted a video during the 9/11 anniversary last year. Zawahiri had taken over as Al Qaeda chief after Osama bin Laden was killed in a US raid in Abbottabad in May 2011.
(With inputs from Agencies)
