Al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri is hiding in Pakistan with ISI's help: Report

Osama bi Laden's son Hamza bin Laden is also hiding in the country, TOI quoted a Newsweek report as saying, citing a former top Pakistani official.

New Delhi: Al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri is hiding in Pakistan, possibly in Karachi, with help from the ISI spy agency, a media report said on Saturday.

Osama bin Laden's son Hamza bin Laden is also hiding in the country, TOI quoted a Newsweek report as saying, citing a former top Pakistani official.

ISI has been protecting al-Zawahiri since US troops busted Al-Qaida safe-havens in Afghanistan in 2001, multiple sources reportedly told the Newsweek.

And Washington may be aware of his hideouts because the “Barack Obama administration went after him last year with a drone and almost got him,” the report claimed.

"The drone hit next to the room where Dr. Zawahiri was staying," a "senior" militant from the region told Newsweek.

"The shared wall collapsed, and debris from the explosion showered on him and broke his glasses, but luckily he was safe," the militant added.

Al-Zawahiri survived "several" drone attacks in the past, an Afghan Taliban leader told Newsweek.

He said Al-Zawahiri was "no longer welcome" in areas controlled by his group because it's engaged in peace negotiations with the Afghan government.

The ISI moved him to Karachi because the city has “widespread sympathies for militant Islam”, densely populated and a large Pakistani military presence.

Al-Qaida remains a deadly force with the ability to strike the US again hence Washington is not letting its guard down.