Two Hellfire missiles killed Al-Zawahiri at Kabul’s house where he was hiding. No family members or civilians were killed in the operation, the White House said.
The United States has been planning for “months” the operation that ended the life of al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri last weekend. The doctor of Egyptian descent was one of the most wanted targets by US intelligence, making it a priority to behead the terrorist organization again. No explosions were recorded in the attack, and US authorities have confirmed that neither civilians nor family members living with the terrorist leader were killed.
It has been months, years of waiting. US President Joe Biden gave the go-ahead for the operation last week, but the opportunity did not arise until 9:48 p.m. on the US east coast on Sunday, 6:18 a.m. in Kabul. It was 17th in the Afghan capital.
As revealed by a senior White House official Monday night in a phone call with journalists — on condition of anonymity — intelligence agencies Biden, who was leading the operation from Washington, showed a model of the home in Kabul where they had located Al-Zawahiri possible analyze actions. The terrorist leader has lived in the building since the beginning of this year with his wife, daughter and grandchildren. The Americans studied the structure of the house, the risks to citizens and his way of life: he never went out.
However, the long hours of surveillance showed a glimpse of an opportunity. “We identified Zawahiri on his balcony several times and for a long time,” the senior US official explained. “When we knew the conditions were optimal, we decided to intervene.” The drone strike was clean. “Two Hellfire missiles have been fired at Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is shot dead on the balcony.” Al-Zawahiri had been awake for barely an hour. Always according to the report of the above source, “none of the next of kin was injured”.
The White House said there was no need to deploy military personnel on the ground. But how is it possible that no explosion was recorded? It appears that the missiles fired by the drone are actually the R9X ‘flying ginsu’ version of the Hellfire model. They owe their name to an American knife brand inspired by Japan. They are also known as ‘ninja bomb’.
According to the AFP news agency, this modified version of the Hellfire does not have an explosive charge, but instead has six blades deployed before impact to slice through its target without detonating effect. However, the existence of this weapon has never been confirmed, nor has its use been acknowledged by the Pentagon or the CIA, the two agencies that have conducted operations to assassinate extremist leaders.
The first record of the use of these missiles is in 2017. A drone killed one of the leaders of al-Qaeda in Syria, Abu al-Khayr al-Masri, when he was traveling by car. The images circulated after that attack showed a large hole in the roof of the vehicle and the interior – as well as the occupants – destroyed. However, the front and back remained intact.
This is how al-Zawahiri apparently died. An operation that was “a complete success,” Biden congratulated himself, who led the operation from the Situation Room. It is the same room from which Barack Obama followed the death of then-Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden live; the place where the most sensitive decisions are made and risky operations are tackled.
Source: La Verdad
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