Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson: No new date or venue has been set for the meeting between Araghchi and Witkoff, and no negotiations will take place until the outcome is guaranteed
Palestinian platforms: Settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque complex under the protection of the occupation police
Palestinian platforms: The IOF detonated a booby-trapped robot east of the al-Zaytoun neighborhood, south of Gaza City
Syrian Defense: We call on all parties in Sweida to cooperate with security forces and exercise restraint
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese Army is continuing its investigations and will later announce any information that does not affect the confidentiality of the investigation
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: It has not yet been determined whether the detainees belong to ISIS or another organization
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Around 10 people of different nationalities, including Lebanese nationals, were detained
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese army arrested a number of people in the Matn area of Mount Lebanon with possession it has not disclosed
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: We have strong indications that there are martyrs, injuries, and trapped people in the Salah al-Din area
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Citizens should avoid Salah al-Din Street because anyone who approaches it is at risk of being directly targeted

Exclusive: Al-Zawahiri was not killed the way Washington reported

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Al Mayadeen Net
  • 4 Aug 2022 19:55
  • 3 Shares
4 Min Read

US claims of how the country killed Al-Qaeda chief were just refuted by diplomatic sources speaking exclusively to Al Mayadeen.

  • x
  • Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri
    Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri

Diplomatic sources revealed Thursday to Al Mayadeen that the Taliban movement has confirmed the killing of the leader of Al-Qaeda terrorist organization, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, and reliable witnesses in the movement confirmed that they saw his body.

However, the sources said Al-Zawahiri was not killed in the way Washington reported, indicating that the Al-Qaeda chief was killed as a result of a mysterious explosion that was not and cannot be disclosed.

Biden says US killed Al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan

On Monday, US President Joe Biden announced that the United States had killed Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri, a suspected mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

In a televised address, Biden said the strike in Kabul, Afghanistan had been carried out on Saturday. "I gave the final approval to go get him," he said, adding that there had been no civilian casualties.

"Justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more," Biden said.

A senior administration official said Al-Zawahiri had been killed on the balcony of a house in Kabul in a drone strike, and that there had been no US boots on the ground in Afghanistan. 

The official said that Al-Zawahiri's presence in the Afghan capital Kabul was a "clear violation" of a deal the Taliban had signed with the US in Doha in 2020 that paved the way for the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Read more: Blinken: Taliban violated Doha agreement by sheltering Al-Zawahiri

Related News

Senate blames Secret Service failures for Trump assassination attempt

South Korea warns US chip tariffs threaten economy, global supply

How exactly was Al-Qaeda's Zawahiri killed? 

In a "meticulously planned operation" - as proclaimed by US officials - the United States killed Al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan. The US armed forces, which had occupied Afghanistan for 20 years before withdrawing in a humiliating manner last August, fired two Hellfire missiles from a UAV flying over Kabul, striking the terrorist organization leader's house and killing him.

Officials in Washington said the plan was as elaborate as the one that killed Al-Zawahiri's predecessor, Osama bin Laden, in Pakistan in 2011.

"For several years the US government has been aware of a network that we assessed supported Zawahiri," a senior administration official told reporters.

The United States, however, only found out that Al-Zawahiri was in Afghanistan last year when they learned that his family, wife, daughter, and children moved to the Afghan capital.

The official said they were careful, exercising "longstanding terrorist tradecraft" to prevent anyone from tracking them to Al-Zawahiri.

"We identified Zawahiri on multiple occasions for sustained periods of time on the balcony," the official said, though the notorious terrorist had a $25 million bounty on his head.

Reportedly, Washington's forces studied the construction of the home, finalizing a plan using a detailed model of Al-Zawahiri's safehouse in Afghanistan and presenting it to Biden on July 1.

Biden took the decision and issued the order on July 25, just days before the operation took place.

Al-Zawahiri was "killed on the balcony," the US official said, in a strike that involved a UAV armed with two precision-guided Hellfire missiles launched at 6:18 am Sunday, Kabul time.

The strike was carried out using a non-explosive version of Hellfire, the R9X, which deploys a series of knife-like blades from its fuselage and shreds its target. The "flying ginsu" missiles have been used several times by the United States to kill other targets in Washington's scope.

"Zawahiri’s family members were present in other parts of the safe house at the time of the strike and were purposely not targeted and were not harmed," the official noted.

  • United States
  • Al-Qaeda
  • Afghanistan
  • Taliban
  • US
  • Ayman Al-Zawahiri

Most Read

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Major ambush in Gaza kills 6 Israeli troops, injures dozens

Major ambush in Gaza kills 5 Israeli troops, injures 14

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Israeli soldiers are seen in Beit Hanoun ahead of an operation by the al-Qassam Brigades, undated (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)

'Israel' on blast as media exposes report discrepancies in Gaza ambush

  • Palestine
  • 8 Jul 2025
Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

  • Politics
  • 9 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
The Freedom Flotilla ship Handala as it departs for Gaza, where it aims to break the maritime blockade at a port in Syracuse, Sicily in southern Italy on July 13, 2025. (AFP)
Palestine

Freedom Flotilla's Handala departs Sicily in bid to break Gaza siege

The container ship CMA CGM Laperouse, left, docks at the Georgia Ports Authority's Port of Savannah, Sept. 29, 2021, in Savannah, Ga (AP)
Politics

US shipbuilding woes deepen as tariffs, outdated policies backfire

Gaza war raises ethical questions for ex-Obama, Biden officials
Politics

Mercenary firm tied to Gaza war crimes hires Obama-Biden PR operatives

'Israel' targets children in Gaza collecting water
Palestine

'Israel' strikes Gaza kids fetching water, blames it on 'malfunction'

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS