U.S. Reportedly Kills Top Al-Qaeda Leader Ayman Al-Zawahri In Afghanistan Drone Strike

Breaking Business U. S. Reportedly Kills Top Al-Qaeda Leader Ayman Al-Zawahri In Afghanistan Drone Strike Joe Walsh Forbes Staff I cover breaking news for Forbes.

New! Follow this author to improve your content experience. Got it! Aug 1, 2022, 06:02pm EDT | Updated Aug 1, 2022, 06:46pm EDT Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline Al-Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahri was killed by an American drone strike in Afghanistan, the New York Times and Associated Press reported Monday, citing unnamed sources—marking the end of al-Zawahri’s decade-long tenure at the terrorist group’s helm. al-Qaida’s Ayman al-Zawahri speaks in Islamabad on June 20, 2006.

AP2006 Key Facts The Washington Post confirmed al-Zawahri was killed by American forces, but didn’t specify where or how. President Joe Biden is scheduled to give a televised address Monday evening at 7:30 p. m.

announcing a “successful counterterrorism operation,” according to the White House . A Taliban spokesperson said in a Monday afternoon tweet an American drone had struck a residential neighborhood in Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul on Sunday, a move the group condemned—though it’s unclear whether the purported strike was related to al-Zawahri’s death. Key Background A surgeon by trade, al-Zawahri originally hailed from Cairo and led a faction of a group called the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which sought to overthrow Egypt’s secular government, according to the nonpartisan 9/11 Commission report .

He joined forces with al-Qaeda by the late 1990s, and began serving as Osama bin Laden’s top deputy as the group planned a series of terrorist attacks against U. S. targets that culminated in the September 11 attacks in 2001, which killed almost 3,000 people.

Al-Zawahri and bin Laden were based in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan at the time of the hijackings, and both men narrowly survived as U. S. forces responded by toppling the Taliban government and attacking al-Qaeda units.

In the years following the attacks, al-Qaeda released occasional videos featuring al-Zawahri, who was widely believed to be hiding in Pakistan’s tribal areas. He took over as the group’s top leader after U. S.

forces killed bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011, and despite the U. S. government offering a $25 million reward for his capture, al-Zawahri remained at large for more than a decade.

Tangent The death of al-Zawahri marks the most significant airstrike on an Afghan target since the Taliban retook control of the country amid the U. S. military’s withdrawal almost a year ago.

The Biden Administration has pledged to retain the ability to carry out counterterrorism strikes in Afghanistan even though U. S. troops are no longer present on the ground.

Days before the U. S. withdrawal ended last August, 10 Kabul civilians were killed in a botched drone strike targeting the Islamic State’s offshoot in Afghanistan.

This is a developing story; it will be updated. Follow me on Twitter . Send me a secure tip .

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