newYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Terrorist Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was killed in a US drone strike in Afghanistan on Monday, was an al-Qaeda leader before taking command of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the death of his predecessor in 2011. was an instructor.
Fox News earlier reported that he was taken away over the weekend in a drone strike on a Kabul residence.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed and condemned the attack on Twitter, calling it a “clear violation of international principles”, according to a translation of the thread. The 2020 Doha Accords, which preceded the withdrawal of US troops, called for the Taliban to fight terrorism at home.
Al-Zawahiri was a doctor and founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad terrorist group that later merged with al-Qaeda, according to officials.
US eliminates al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in ‘successful’ Afghanistan counterterrorism operation
Al-Zawahiri, 71, is listed as one of the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists and there was a $25 million reward for his arrest.
In 2011, he succeeded bin Laden as al-Qaeda leader after a Navy SEAL team killed him in Pakistan.
According to the State Department, the Egyptian-born terrorist was implicated in plotting the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and in connection with the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, and the 2000 USS Cole attack in Yemen. They were wanted.
He publicly urged terrorists to attack the United States and its Western allies and kidnap civilians.
The embassy bombing killed 224 people, including 12 Americans, and injured more than 4,500. The attack on the USS Cole killed 17 US sailors.
US drone strike kills Syrian IS leader Maha al-Agar
Other co-conspirators in the attack, including bin Laden and Muhammad Atef, have already been killed.
Seven other suspects in the embassy bombing are serving life sentences.
Al-Zawahiri was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo when he was young, according to the State Department. He attended medical school and became an ophthalmologist before teaming up with bin Laden in the mid-1980s. They became close during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
Al-Zawahiri graduated from Cairo University’s Al-Qasr Al-Ain Medical School in 1974, according to documents seized at bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Ideologically opposed to the secular government, he was arrested in 1981 after the assassination of former Egyptian President Mohammed. Anwar al-Sadat has been charged with carrying a weapon without a license.
More recently, he has accused the Islamic State group of atrocities in Iraq and Syria.
Another al-Qaeda leader under investigation in connection with the embassy bombing, Saif al-Ader, remains on the FBI’s most wanted list.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Al-Zawahiri is also the father-in-law of Abd al-Rahman al-Maghrebi, another senior al-Qaeda leader.
Fox News’ Matteo Cina, Ronn Blitzer, and Hollie McKay contributed to this report.