A very narrow circle of people was informed about the plan to neutralize Zawahiri.
The American drone strike, which was killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri on his own balcony in Kabul, was the result of a months-long secret operation by President Biden and a group of his advisers, CNN reports.
About the plan to neutralize Zawahiri a very narrow circle of people was informed. To prepare for the special operation, they even constructed a smaller copy of the terrorist's house.
Details of the special operation and its planning were revealed by a high-ranking official of the administration.
In particular, according to him, in April, US intelligence tracked down Zawahiri when he was in a house belonging to the aide of the high-ranking leader of the Taliban in Kabul, Sirajuddin Haqqani. American officials were aware of the terrorist leader's support network in the Afghan capital. Over the course of several months, with the help of several intelligence sources, they identified his wife, daughter and grandchildren.
The women used extreme security measures to ensure that no one would follow them to the Al Qaeda leader's location. Zawahiri himself never left his residence.
After several months of careful surveillance, US officials determined that Zawahiri periodically stayed on the balcony for long periods of time.
At the same time, US intelligence continued to monitor his activities and analyzed the structure of the building in order to keep it as intact as possible when the terrorist is removed and avoid civilian casualties, including members of the Zawahiri family. special services had to take this into account and ensure the most careful planning of the operation.
On July 1, US President Joe Biden gathered key national security officials for a meeting in the situation room of the White House.
Biden was “deeply immersed in intelligence,” a senior official said.
He was particularly interested in a scaled-down model of Zawahiri's house, which intelligence officers built and brought to the White House for the president to see. Biden was interested in all the details: from the materials from which the terrorist's house was built, the location of rooms and windows, to the effect of the lighting of the building and the weather on the upcoming special operation.
“Biden was particularly focused on ensuring that the risk of civilian casualties was minimized,” the official emphasized.
In parallel with the technical planning of the special operation, the legal department of the White House studied and analyzed the intelligence related to Zawahiri in order to have the legal basis for the special operation.
The last meeting took place on July 25, when Biden was in self-isolation due to COVID-19. After detailed discussion, he authorized a “point strike” to destroy the target.
Five days later, two Hellfire missiles were fired at the balcony of the terrorist leader's home in Kabul. Several intelligence sources confirmed the assassination of Zawahiri. Members of his family, who were in other parts of the house, were not injured.
Commenting on the successful special operation, Joe Biden made a warning to al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups around the world< /strong>.
As you know, Ayman al-Zawahiri, together with the founder of the Al-Qaeda group, Osama bin Laden, planned the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
Recall that on that day a group of 19 terrorists captured four passenger planes in the USA, two of which later crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. Another rammed the Pentagon building near the American capital, and the fourth fell near the city of Shanksville in the state of Pennsylvania after the passengers and crew tried to neutralize the terrorists.
More than 2.9 thousand people died during the terrorist attacks, responsibility for they were taken over by the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization.
