Kyrgyzstan denies its territory's use to kill Al-Qaeda leader

The Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry has denied reports in Pakistani media that Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed by drone strikes launched from Kyrgyz territory.

"This information doesn’t match with reality and is false," Interfax quotes the ministry as saying.

"The transit centre at the Manas airport ceased operations in 2014. Currently, the US or other foreign military personnel are not present on the territory of the airport and are not conducting any activities," the statement noted.

On August 6, referring to unnamed US media outlets, the Pakistani English-language newspaper Dawn reported that the military drone that killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul was fired from a former US airbase in Kyrgyzstan.