Terror organization’s new leader could restart jihad
| | |
| By: Murray HunterThe July 31 elimination of Al-Qaeda’s Ayman Al-Zawahiri in Kabul has a number of ramifications. Al-Zawahiri was assassinated standing on a balcony (above) in an upscale flat in the heart of the city by two Hellfire R9-X missiles from an MQ9 Reaper drone that had flown over or originated in a third country. Al-Zawahiri had a US$25 million price on his head and had been the “invisible” leader of Al-Qaeda since 2011. Such a hit lent credence to US President Biden’s doctrine of over-the-horizon counterterrorism in Afghanistan. However, the intelligence team that reported Al-Zawahiri’s whereabouts to the White House, and the consequent decision to take him out with a drone strike, is likely to have unintended consequences for the future direction of Al-Qaeda. The strike occurred around the time of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan, the president in isolation after positive tests for Covid-19, and just before a critical vote in the Senate for one of Biden’s signature bills to fund his agenda…
To read the whole thing and get full access to Asia Sentinel's reporting and archives, subscribe now for US$10/month or US$100/year.This article is among the stories we choose to make widely available. If you wish to get the full Asia Sentinel experience and access more exclusive content, please do subscribe to us for US$10/month or US$100/year. | |
