From ophthalmologist to al-Qaeda leadership: Who is Ayman al-Zawahiri?

Helping Osama bin Laden to plan the attacks against the USA on September 11, 2001, in the unmanned aerial vehicle attack, carried out by the United States of America in 2022 in the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul; Ayman al-Zawahiri, who helped the organization survive and spread, was killed.

By "destroying" al-Zawahiri, US President Joe Biden said the US would prevent Taliban-ruled Afghanistan from ever again becoming a base for attacks on the rest of the world, as it did in 2001.

Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon with a $25 million bounty on his head, helped coordinate the September 11, 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Although those who lived through the September 11 attacks do not remember Ayman al-Zawahiri's name, many have seen his face for more than 20 years: a person with glasses, and a faint smile, always standing next to Osama bin Laden in photographs. They organized the attacks against the United States together.

Originally from Egypt, al-Zawahiri was born on June 19, 1951, in a suburb of Cairo.

A religious since childhood, al-Zawahiri fell into the violent arm of the Sunni Islamic revival.

He tried to replace Egyptian and other Arab governments with his harsh interpretation of Islamic rule.

Working as an eye surgeon in his youth, al-Zawahiri also traveled around Central Asia and the Middle East, witnessing the Afghans' struggle against the Soviet invaders.

He met Osama bin Laden, a youth of Saudi descent, as well as other Arab militants who helped drive Soviet troops out of Afghanistan.

He was one of the hundreds of militants captured and tortured in prison following the 1981 assassination of Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat by Islamic radicals.

The biographers say this experience radicalized him even more. Seven years later, when bin Laden founded al-Qaeda, al-Zawahiri was with him.

Al-Zawahiri combined his own Egyptian militant group with al-Qaeda. He brought organizational skills and experience to Qaeda. He went underground in Egypt, escaped from Egyptian intelligence, and made progress.

This allowed al-Qaeda to organize cells of followers and launch attacks around the world.

Why was al-Zawahiri important to the organization?

Zawahiri and his aides helped al-Qaeda survive the global manhunt and strike again, after years of a silent gathering of suicide bombers, funds, and plans for the 9/11 attacks.

Escaped after 9/11, Zawahiri rebuilt al-Qaeda leadership in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.

He became the highest-ranking leader of the organization's branches in Iraq, Yemen, Asia, and beyond.

Believing in targeting enemies near and far, al-Qaeda has carried out uninterrupted attacks for years in Bali, Mombasa, Riyadh, Jakarta, Istanbul, Madrid, London, and many more after 9/11.

The 2005 attack in London, which killed 52 people, was al-Qaeda's last devastating move in the West.

Drone attacks, counter-terrorism raids, and missiles by the United States and other countries killed some of the al-Qaeda-linked fighters and shattered parts of the network.

How was he killed?

At sunrise on Sunday (July 31, 2022), al-Zawahiri stepped onto the balcony of a house in Kabul, Afghanistan. He was spending time on the balcony, as the US intelligence stated that he often did. A US drone shot down the al-Qaeda leader with two Hellfire missiles while he was standing, according to US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The al-Qaeda leader's presence in Afghanistan has been suspected for some time, according to analysts. US officials learned this year that Zawahiri's wife and other family members had recently moved to a safe house in Kabul. Authorities said that Zawahiri followed his family soon after.

Ultimately, US officials, including senior leaders, including Biden, spent months planning the attack, which would take the form of confirming and identifying al-Zawahiri, as well as standing alone on the same balcony.