A frame grab from a 2006 video broadcast on Al-Jazeera TV channel shows Al-Qaida’s second leader, Ayman Al-Zawahiri.
AFP/AFP via Getty Images
hide captions
switch captions
AFP/AFP via Getty Images
A frame grab from a 2006 video broadcast on Al-Jazeera TV channel shows Al-Qaida’s second leader, Ayman Al-Zawahiri.
AFP/AFP via Getty Images
Top al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed by a US drone strike on July 30, according to President Joe Biden.
At Biden’s direction, an American drone fired two hellfire missiles at a safe house in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing al-Zawahiri at 9:48 p.m. ET, according to an administration official. senior told reporters on Monday.
The official said that through various intelligence sources, the US is “highly confident” that no one else was killed in the attack, including al-Zawahiri’s family, who are elsewhere in the country. a safe house.
The official said al-Zawahiri was an active threat to US national security and his death was a “strong blow” to al-Qaida.
For several years, the US knew about a network protecting al-Zawahiri, according to the official.
Zawahiri, an Egyptian eye doctor, served as Osama bin Laden’s deputy and took over al-Qaida after the US killed bin Laden in May 2011. But al-Qaida members complained that he was similar. less attractive. The two fought together in the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
Zawahiri helped found Islamic Jihad, the group that assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981. Al-Qaida was never able to regain its status as a prominent terrorist organization after bin Laden’s death, and face newer, more brutal opponents, such as the Islamic State.
On July 1, Biden was briefed on a proposed activity, and he convened a meeting on July 25 with key cabinet members and top officials to get a final meeting on the intelligence assessment, the official said. There was unanimous support for hitting the target and Biden authorized a “tailor-made” strike to minimize civilian casualties.
This story will be updated.
