The mastermind of 9/11, Ayman-al-Zawahiri killed by the USTop Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan over the weekend. Al-Zawahiri, who had overseen the 9/11 attacks on the US in 2001, was killed in an air strike when he came out on the balcony of the house on Sunday (August 31) morning, confirmed US President Joe Biden. 
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The mastermind of 9/11, Ayman-al-Zawahiri killed by the US
An American drone strike killed al-Zawahri, a key plotter of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, at a safe house in Afghanistan. Credit: AFP Photo
President Joe Biden, in a televised address on August 1, announced that Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in an air strike by the United States stating that
Zawahiri, 71, was killed in an airstrike that took place on August 31 in Kabul. He was killed in a drone attack when he came out on the balcony of the house. Credit: AP Photo
For years, Zawahiri was believed to be hiding along the forbidding border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Credit: Reuters Photo
Zawahiri's origins in Islamist militancy went back decades. Credit: AFP Photo
The first time the world heard of him was when he stood in a courtroom cage after the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat in 1981. Credit: AP Photo
Zawahiri served a three-year jail term for illegal arms possession, but was acquitted of the main charges. Credit: Reuters Photo
A trained surgeon, Zawahiri, went to Pakistan on his release where he worked with the Red Crescent treating Islamist Mujahideen guerrillas wounded in Afghanistan fighting Soviet forces. During that period, he became acquainted with bin Laden. Credit: Reuters Photo
Taking over the leadership of Islamic Jihad in Egypt in 1993, Zawahiri was a leading figure in a campaign in the mid-1990s to overthrow the government and set up a purist Islamic state. More than 1,200 Egyptians were killed. Credit: AFP Photo
In 1999, an Egyptian military court sentenced Zawahiri to death in absentia. By then he was living the spartan life of a militant after helping Bin Laden form al-Qaeda. Credit: AP Photo
Ayman al-Zawahiri succeeded Osama bin Laden as al-Qaeda leader after years as its main organiser and strategist in 2011. Since then he repeatedly called for global jihad, with an AK-47 at his side during the video messages. Credit: AFP Photo