Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed at the home of a Taliban lackey wanted by the FBI who has already received a column from the New York Times.
The jihadist, one of the planners of the September 11 attacks, was shot down by a CIA-issued drone on Sunday morning in a house in Kabul belonging to senior Taliban operative Sirajuddin Haqqani, according to initial reports from Gray Lady herself.
The infamous publication and editorial written by Haqqani – the leader of the Haqqani insurgent network in Afghanistan linked to brutal and deadly attacks – to demand a peace agreement between US and Afghan leaders in 2020.
The newspaper was criticized by critics and even its own journalists for giving the global terrorist a microphone to thousands of readers to spew what many considered thinly veiled propaganda. The Times defended its decision to publish the article at the time.
Today, the Times is accused of ‘stealth editing’ its reporting on al-Zawahri’s murder to remove details from the initial report specifically naming Haqqani.
“According to a US analyst, the house that was struck belonged to a senior Sirajuddin Haqqani, a senior Taliban government official who US officials believe is close to senior al-Qaeda officials,” the Times said. . wrote in his initial report.
However, this article removed this paragraph without an editor’s note and then replaced it with language that did not specifically name Haqqani, such as first pointed out by multiple editor Jeryl Bier
“After the strike, members of the Haqqani Network, a terrorist group that is part of the Taliban government, attempted to conceal Mr. Zawahri’s presence in the house and restrict access to the site, according to a senior ISIS official. administration. But the official said the United States has multiple intelligence threads confirming that Mr. Zawahri was killed in the attack,” the Times wrote in the updated article.
The newspaper’s critics suggested that the publication removed the initial paragraph linking Haqqani’s role in protecting al-Zawahri due to the backlash he received for publishing the Taliban leader’s op-ed.
However, a Times spokesperson denied such an account in a statement to FoxNews.
“We regularly edit articles around the web, especially breaking news, to refine the story, add new information, additional context or analysis,” the spokesperson told Fox.
In this case, we have updated complex information on the latest international news with additional details from open press briefings. There is absolutely no connection between the editing of this article and any previous publication by Times Opinion.
Haqqani, deputy leader of the Taliban, is on the FBI’s most wanted list for his alleged involvement in a January 2008 attack on a Kabul hotel that killed six people, including a US citizen. He also allegedly coordinated and participated in cross-border attacks against US and coalition forces in Afghanistan, according to the agency.
The FBI is offering up to $10 million for information leading directly to his arrest.