MOST WANTED: Ayman Al Zawahri, the Egyptian-born doctor-turned-terrorist who assumed the leadership of Al Qaeda after the death of Osama bin Laden was killed in a US drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, over the weekend, according to US officials. Zawahri, 71, was one of the world’s most wanted men and was thought as among the masterminds of the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.
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STRATEGIC HIT: Zawahri became familiar to the world as the man sitting at Bin Laden’s side in videos. Over the years he had become a remote and withdrawn man but continued to maintain control over Al Qaeda until the CIA tracked him down. As per the intelligence grid, Zawahri was now far more important strategically than tactically to Al Qaeda.
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SUPREME LEADER: The Al Qaeda leader evaded capture for more than two decades after the suicide airliner attacks that deeply changed America and the rest of the world. On the run after 9/11, Zawahri kept a low profile but behind the scenes restructured Al Qaeda, mainly in the Afghan-Pakistan border region and was the so-called supreme leader over its branches in Iraq, Asia, Yemen and beyond.
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HELLFIRE MISSILES: Tracked by US intelligence, Zawahri was widely suspected to be in Kabul, where he had recently moved. Early Sunday morning as the militant leader came outside on the balcony of a safehouse in Kabul, a drone fired two Hellfire missiles, according to US officials, and killed him. There was no collateral damage. Zawahri’s wife and other family members who were around, were not harmed. The safehouse was located in Kabul’s Sherpur area, a wealthy downtown enclave.
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JUSTICE DELIVERED: In his short address, delivered in White House, President Biden announced, “Zawahri had carved a trail of murder and violence…now justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more.” The US President added that he had given the final approval for the "precision strike" on the Al Qaeda leader after months of careful planning.
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