The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Deaths of Ayman al-Zawahiri: the attacks in which the leader of al-Qaeda took part during his life

2022-08-02T09:53:42.895Z


FOCUS - Untraceable for 10 years, the terrorist leader was killed in an American drone attack on the night of Saturday to Sunday.


Decades of hunting are coming to an end.

Monday August 1, US President Joe Biden announced the death of Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri, killed by an American drone strike overnight from Saturday to Sunday.

On Saturday, on my orders, the United States carried out an airstrike on Kabul, Afghanistan, which killed the emir of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri

,” he said during a meeting. a short speech from the White House, adding that "

justice has been served and this terrorist leader is no more

".

Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon, was one of the most wanted terrorists in the world.

For more than twenty years, he had been Osama bin Laden's number two.

He succeeded him in 2011, after the founder of the terrorist organization was killed in Pakistan in a raid by American special forces.

The United States had pledged $25 million for any information leading to Zawahiri's location.

Attacks against the Egyptian government, the Luxor massacre, the attacks of September 11, 2001... He was closely or indirectly involved in numerous terrorist attacks.

Le Figaro

takes stock.

Read alsoHistorical figure of jihadism, the leader of al-Qaeda killed in the center of Kabul by an American drone

1981: three years in prison for illegal possession of weapons

It all started in 1981. Several members of the “

Egyptian Islamic Jihad

” group disguised as soldiers assassinated President Anouar el-Sadat during a military parade in Cairo.

By signing a peace agreement with Israel, Sadat had angered Islamist activists.

Ayman al-Zawahiri is arrested along with hundreds of other members of the group.

During the mass trial, he was cleared of any involvement in the assassination but found guilty of illegal possession of weapons, and served a three-year sentence.

According to foreign media, he was regularly tortured and beaten by the authorities during his sentence, "

an experience which would have transformed him into a fanatical and violent extremist

", reports the BBC.

1993: series of attacks against the Egyptian government

Once out of prison, he went to Peshawar in Pakistan, then to Afghanistan, where he created a faction of "

Egyptian Islamic Jihad

" while working as a doctor in the country under Soviet occupation.

At the head of the group in 1993, he became one of the main architects of a series of attacks targeting Egyptian government ministers, including Prime Minister Atif Sidqi.

The latter will survive.

The series of attacks to establish an Islamic state in the country leads to the death of more than 1200 Egyptians.

Prime Minister Jacques Chirac (centre) Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (left) and Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Sedki (right) on September 27, 1987. The latter escaped an attack ordered by Zawahiri in 1993.


DANIEL JANIN / AFP

1997: the Luxor massacre

In 1997, six assailants disguised as members of the security forces killed 62 people - mostly tourists - at a temple near Luxor in Egypt.

The Vanguards of Conquest, a faction of the Islamic Jihad, are suspected of being behind the massacre.

The US State Department then designates Ayman al-Zawahiri as the leader of the group.

Two years later, he was sentenced to death in absentia by an Egyptian military court for his role in the group's numerous attacks.

The front pages of Lebanese newspapers on November 18 after the massacre in Luxor, Egypt.

JOSEPH BARRAK / AFP

1997: The Global Islamic Front for Jihad

In 1997, Zawahiri reportedly moved to the Afghan city of Jalalabad, where Osama bin Laden was then based.

He joined five other radical Islamist militant groups, including bin Laden-led al-Qaeda, to form the Global Islamic Front for Jihad against Jews and Crusaders.

Their first proclamation includes a fatwa - a religious edict - authorizing the killing of American civilians.

Six months later, two simultaneous attacks lead to the destruction of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 223 people.

American Embassy in Nairobi a few days after the bomb explosion on August 7, 1998. ALEXANDER JOE / AFP FILES / AFP

One of the masterminds of the 9/11 attacks in the United States

On September 11, 2001, the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the headquarters of the Pentagon near Washington were targeted by a terrorist attack.

Nearly 3,000 people are killed.

Ayman al-Zawahiri was considered one of the masterminds of the attacks.

His death will allow the families of victims killed on September 11, 2001 “

to turn the page

”, President Biden has said.

A second plane hits the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. AFP

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-08-02

You may like

News/Politics 2024-03-27T07:56:25.580Z
News/Politics 2024-03-10T22:08:00.317Z
News/Politics 2024-02-26T10:23:40.428Z

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.