In 2001, both Zawahiri and bin Laden had escaped US forces in Afghanistan and the former's whereabouts had long been a mystery. The FBI put a $25m bounty on his head, adding him to its most wanted list. He was indicted for his alleged role in the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Zawahiri is believed to have been involved in some of al-Qaeda's biggest operations, helping organise the 11 September 2001 attacks, when airliners hijacked by al-Qaeda were used to kill 3,000 people in the United States. There, he became acquainted with Osama bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi Arabian who had joined the Afghan resistance and founded al-Qaeda. "When he came out of prison he was a completely different person," said a doctor who studied with Zawahiri and declined to be named.Ī trained surgeon - one of his pseudonyms was The Doctor - Zawahiri went to Pakistan on his release, where he worked with the Red Crescent, treating mujahideen fighters wounded in Afghanistan battling Soviet forces. People who studied with Zawahiri at Cairo University's Faculty of Medicine in the 1970s describe a lively young man who went to the cinema, listened to music and joked with friends. Zawahiri served a three-year jail term for illegal arms possession, but was acquitted of the main charges. "We have sacrificed, and we are still ready for more sacrifices until the victory of Islam," shouted Zawahiri, wearing a white robe, as fellow defendants enraged by Sadat's peace treaty with Israel chanted slogans. The first time the world heard of Zawahiri was when he stood in a courtroom cage after the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in 1981. He was raised in Cairo's leafy Maadi suburb, a place favoured by expatriates from the western nations he railed against. Most wanted listīorn in 1951 to a prominent Cairo family, Zawahiri was a grandson of the grand imam of Al Azhar, one of Islam's most important mosques. That strike killed 10 civilians in Kabul and was heavily criticised by rights groups and US lawmakers. The drone strike is the first conducted by the US in Afghanistan since last August, during its withdrawal from the country. Zawahiri's leadership role in al-Qaeda was cited by the official as the legal basis for the strike - the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force has been continually used as a legal basis for US strikes in the Middle East. "His death deals a significant blow to al-Qaeda and will degrade the group's ability to operate, including against the US homeland," the official said. The official added that the strike was successful and there were no civilian casualties. Multiple reports, including from the New York Times, claim that the house targeted in the strike belonged to a top aide of Sirajuddin Haqqani, a senior Taliban official. The administration official said that senior Haqqani Taliban officials were aware that Zawahiri was at the location, a safe house in Afghanistan's capital, but that the Taliban was not given advance notification of the strike. "No matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out." And this terrorist leader is no more," President Joe Biden said on Monday evening. The CIA carried out a drone strike in Kabul on 31 July at 6:18am local time, the official said during a background call. The Associated Press first reported that Zawahiri, 71, was killed. Their names have not been released pending notification of their families, but the Pentagon said Saturday they would be released soon.The US has killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike in Afghanistan over the weekend, a senior White House official confirmed on Monday evening. One was a Navy sailor and one an Army soldier. The Marine Corps said 11 of the 13 Americans killed were Marines. service members died in the war and tens of thousands were injured over the past two decades. military members’ remains in coming days will provide painful and poignant reminders not just of the devastation at the Kabul airport but also of the costly way the war is ending. In an Oval Office appearance Friday, Biden again expressed his condolences to victims of the attack. intelligence assets and no military presence in the nation. A suicide bomb typically carries five to 10 pounds of explosives, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss preliminary assessments of the bombing.īiden still faces the problem over the longer term of containing an array of potential extremist threats based in Afghanistan, which will be harder with fewer U.S. officials believe the suicide vest used in the attack, which killed at least 169 Afghans in addition to the 13 Americans, carried about 25 pounds of explosives and was loaded with shrapnel, a U.S.
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