U.S. kills al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri in drone strike
“Justice has been delivered, and this terrorist leader is no more,”
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The United States killed al Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahri in a drone strike over the weekend, an operation that included tracking him down through his family, a senior administration official confirmed to reporters.
The strike, carried out by a CIA-operated Air Force drone, occurred at 6:18 a.m. Sunday local time in Kabul as the al Qaeda leader stood on the balcony of his house, the official said. A person familiar with the operation separately said it took “a few days” to confirm the killing because the U.S. doesn’t “have many assets on the ground.”
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The terrorist leader’s habit of standing on his balcony allowed the U.S. to observe him and confirm his identity.
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He had been indicted for his suspected role in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.
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Two hellfire missiles were fired at Zawahri.… Only Zawahri was killed in the strike,” the official said, saying there’s no evidence of any other loss of life.
Unnecessary to telegraph to others how we did this (unless he was fingered by other means and this was a cover story)
Loose lips sink ships. That said, the Times had this tidbit:
www.nytimes.com/2022/08/01/us/politics/al-qaeda-strike-afgha…
“According to one American analyst, the house that was struck was owned by a top aide to Sirajuddin Haqqani, a senior official in the Taliban government whom American officials say is close to senior Qaeda figures.”
It may be that Zawahiri was given up in exchange for something else such as future aid to the Taliban.