World Bulletin / News Desk

Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has pledged allegiance to new Afghan Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, whose predecessor was killed in a US drone strike, SITE monitoring group reported Saturday.

The pledge came in a 14-minute audio message posted online, the US-based SITE Intelligence Group said.

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri has sworn allegiance to the Taliban’s new emir, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada. Zawahiri’s oath of allegiance is included in a newly-released, 14-minute message from As Sahab, al Qaeda’s propaganda arm. The message was released late yesterday.