A U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan this weekend killed Ayman al-Zawahri, who took over as al-Qaeda leader after Osama bin Laden's death in a U.S. raid.
·In this 1998 file photo made available on March 19, 2004, Ayman al-Zawahri poses for a photograph in Khost, Afghanistan. Al-Zawahri, the top al-Qaeda leader, was killed by the U.S. over the weekend in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden conflirmed in an address Monday night.
Current and former officials began hearing Sunday afternoon that al-Zawahri had been killed in a drone strike, but the administration delayed releasing the information until his death could be confirmed, according to one person. The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon made bin Laden Enemy No. 1 in the U.S., but he likely could never have carried it out without his deputy, who brought the tactics and organizational skills needed to forge militants into a network of cells in countries around the world.The bond between the two was forged in the late 1980s, when al-Zawahri reportedly treated the Saudi millionaire in the caves of Afghanistan as Soviet bombardment shook the mountains around them.
"The strong contingent of Egyptians applied organizational know-how, financial expertise, and military experience to wage a violent jihad against leaders whom the fighters considered to be un-Islamic and their patrons, especially the United States," Steven A. Cook wrote for the Council on Foreign Relations last year.
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