Wanted for 9/11, Qaida chief Zawahiri killed in US drone strike in Afghanistan

Kabul/Washington, August 2

Al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri (71) was killed in a US drone missile attack while he stood on a balcony at his home in downtown Kabul, Afghanistan, officials in Washington said, in the biggest blow to the militants since Osama bin Laden was shot dead more than a decade ago.

• Editorail: End of al-Zawahiri

Afghanistan’s Taliban government has not confirmed the death of Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon who had a $25 million bounty on his head and helped coordinate the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US that left nearly 3,000 persons dead.

US officials said Zawahiri was killed when he came out on the balcony of his safe house in Kabul’s Sherpoor at 6.18 am on Sunday morning and was hit by Hellfire missiles from a US drone.

“Now, justice has been delivered, and this terrorist leader is no more,” US President Joe Biden said in televised remarks from the White House on Monday. “No matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the US will find you and take you out.” Biden said he authorised the precision strike after months of planning, and that no civilians or family members were killed.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed that a strike took place in Kabul on Sunday and called it a violation of “international principles”. A spokesperson for the interior ministry said a house was hit by a rocket in Sherpoor, a leafy, upscale residential neighbourhood in the centre of the city. “There were no casualties as the house was empty,” the spokesperson, Abdul Nafi Takor, said. A senior Taliban official said Zawahiri was previously in Helmand province and had moved to Kabul after the Taliban took over the country in August last year.

After US Navy Seals shot bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011, Zawahiri succeeded him as leader. The Egyptian had previously spent years as Al-Qaida’s main organiser and strategist, but a lack of charisma, and competition from rival militant group Islamic State, hobbled his ability to inspire devastating attacks on the West. There were rumours of Zawahiri’s death several times in recent years, and he was long reported to have been in poor health.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Taliban had “grossly violated” the Doha Agreement between the two sides by hosting and sheltering Zawahiri. Former President Barack Obama joined lawmakers in praising the operation. — Reuters

Was among the most dreaded terrorists

• Zawahiri co-coordinated the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the US that left nearly 3,000 dead
• Plotted the Oct 12, 2000, attack on US naval vessel in Yemen, killing 17 US sailors
• Indicted in the US for the Aug 7, 1998, bombings of US embassies in Kenya, Tanzania; 224 killed, 5,000 hurt

Hellfire missile — No blast, precise attack

• Hellfire missile has no explosive warhead
• Deploys 6 blades that fly in at high speed; crush and slice the target
• ‘Hellfire R9X’ is a little over five feet long, weighs 100 pounds
• Doesn’t leave behind burnt-out shells or mangled marks

US forces kept track of his movements for several months

• The seeds of the audacious US operation were planted over several months
• President Biden was updated in May, June, briefed on July 1; on July 25, he authorised the strike
• US officials built a scale model of the safe house where Zawahiri had been located; brought it to White House to show Biden
• Zawahiri was partial to sitting on the home’s balcony; US officials constructed ‘a pattern of life’ and killed Zawahiri by missiles fired by drone

$25 million bounty on his head

3,000 died in 9/11 US attacks

Lived in posh Kabul neighbourhood

Zawahiri was living with his family in a house in Sherpoor, which is an upscale residential neighbourhood in central Kabul