Al Qaeda Leader Drone Strike | Here’s How the US Killed Ayman al-Zawahri; Images Show Aftermath of Attack

Years after serving as Usama bin Laden's deputy during the 9/11 attacks, U.S. intelligence officers tracked down Ayman al-Zawahri. The CIA established his "pattern of life" at his protected residence in an upscale Kabul area for months and noticed he frequently sat by himself on his balcony in the morning. It was where he was finally attacked by US drones.

When Osama bin Laden was eliminated by a Navy SEAL team in 2011, Ayman al-Zawahri took over the terrorist group al-Qaeda.

Al-Zawahri was recognized by the US government on "multiple occasions for sustained lengths of time on the balcony," according to a senior Biden administration official as reported by Fox News.

US President Joe Biden said al-Zawahri was the only one killed in the Al Qaeda Leader Drone Strike.

On Monday, Biden said that on July 25, Ayman al-Zawahri would be terminated permanently from the battlefield after having "authorized a precision strike."

Perfect Timing

According to a report from CNN, one of the preparations was a small-scale model of Zawahiri's safe house, constructed by intelligence officials and placed inside the White House Situation Room for Biden to examine as he considered his options.

The media outlet published photos of al-Zawahri's house damaged by the drone attack that killed one of the world's most wanted terrorists.

Before he gave the order to kill the terrorist leader, Biden wanted to intimately understand the area in which he was hiding. The potential to eliminate the terrorist while reducing the risk to his family, who CIA officers knew also lived in the residence, was ideal because the terrorist frequently stepped out onto the balcony in the early morning hours and he was always alone.

In recent weeks he had made videos calling for violence, including telling followers to "attack the United States and our allies." Al-Zawahri appeared to never leave the home, where his wife, daughter, and grandchildren also reportedly resided, according to US surveillance.

Biden instructed officials to take every precaution to reduce the likelihood of killing al-family Zawahri or other civilians after being informed of the whereabouts of the terrorist.

Al-Zawahri was killed in a "successful" counterterrorism operation last Saturday at 6:18 a.m., in Kabul according to Biden's announcement on Monday.

An Outstanding Job by The US

Since bin Laden died in 2011, al-Zawahri, according to him, "managed al Qaeda's branches all over the world," setting priorities" for "offering operational guidelines that call for and motivate attacks against U.S. targets.

Former senior CIA official Marc Polymeropoulos told BBC that it is possible that several intelligence techniques, including agents on the ground and signals intelligence, were employed before the strike.

Some have even believed that US drones or aircraft alternately kept watching over the area for weeks or months while remaining undetectable on the ground below.

Polymeropoulos said there must be "near certainty" that it is the target, and the operation must be executed without causing any collateral damage, or civilian casualties. He added that there was "a lot of patience" required.

The Al Qaeda Leader Drone Strike, Polymeropoulos continued, benefited from the decades-long expertise of the US intelligence community in locating specific members of al-Qaeda and other terrorist targets.

He remarked that the US is "outstanding at this. It's something that the US government has gotten very good at for over 20 years. And Americans are far safer for it."

Tags

Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, United States, Joe Biden