Agencies-Gaza post
How did CIA locate Zawahiri’s place, kill him??
Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed by a U.S. strike in Afghanistan over the weekend, the biggest blow to the group since its founder Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011.
A senior administration official told President Joe Biden that Zawahiri had been in hiding for years and that the process of locating and killing him was the result of “careful and tireless” work by the counter-terrorism and intelligence community.
Until the United States announcement, there were various rumors of Zawahiri’s presence in the tribal region of Pakistan or within Afghanistan.
The official, speaking on condition of obscurity, provided the following details of the operation:
* For many years, the United States Government has been aware of a network it estimated to support al-Zawahiri. Over the past year, after the United States withdrew from Afghanistan, officials have been monitoring indications of al-Qaeda’s presence in the country.
This year, officials determined that Zawahiri’s family – his wife, daughter, and children – moved to a safe house in Kabul before determining that Zawahiri was in the same place.
* Over several months, intelligence officials have grown in confidence that they properly identified Zawahiri at the safe house in Kabul. In early April, they began briefing senior administration officials. Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, then briefed President Joe Biden.
“We have been able to identify Zawahiri’s lifestyle through multiple independent information sources to guide the process,” the official said.
The official said that once Zawahiri arrived at the safe house in Kabul, he did not reach the officials’ knowledge that he had left and spotted him on his balcony where he was targeted at the end of the restaurants on several occasions.
* Officials investigated the way and nature of the safe house is built and checked the residents of the house to ensure that the United States can confidently carry out an operation to kill al-Zawahiri without threatening the safety of the building and reduce the risk to civilians and the al-Zawahiri family, according to the official.
* In the past few weeks, the President has held meetings with senior advisers and members of the Department to examine intelligence information and assess the best course of action.
On July 1, he briefed management members, including CIA Director William Burns and Biden on a proposed operation in the Situation Room of the White House.
Biden asked, “detailed questions about what we knew and how we knew” and closely examined a model of the safe house prepared by the intelligence community and brought it to the meeting.
The official said he asked about lighting, weather, building materials, and other factors that might affect the operation’s success.
The President also requested an analysis of the possible consequences of a strike in Kabul.
* A selected group of senior inter-agency lawyers examined intelligence reports and confirmed that al-Zawahiri is a legal objective based on his continued leadership of al-Qaeda.
On July 25, the president invited members of his administration and advisers to receive a final briefing and discuss how the killing of Zawahiri would affect America’s relationship with the Taliban, among other things, the official said.
After studying the views of others in the room, Biden authorized a “precision air strike”, provided it reduced the risk of civilian casualties.
* The drone finally carried out the strike at 9:48 PM ET on July 30 using Hellfire missiles.
“The strike was eventually carried out by a drone, two Hellfire missiles fired at Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was killed. murdered on the balcony”.
