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DNA Special: Hellfire missile to Reaper drone, inside details of how US killed al-Zawahiri in Taliban

US President Joe Biden said that his country has done justice to the families of the 3,000 people who died in the 9/11 attacks by killing al-Zawahiri.

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The United States on Tuesday neutralised al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike in Afghanistan's Kabul. The 71-year-old was the same terrorist who played central role in 9/11 attacks in which nearly 3,000 people were killed and later created the group's regional affiliate in the Indian subcontinent.

In 2011, after the US killed Osama bin Laden in a military operation, al-Zawahiri was chosen as the head of al-Qaeda by jihadists around the world. 11 years, the United States has killed him in the same way as it neutralised Laden. 

US President Joe Biden said that his country has done justice to the families of the 3,000 people who died in the 9/11 attacks by killing al-Zawahiri. 

Zawahiri, who assumed the leadership of al-Qaeda after the death of bin Laden, was killed in a drone strike carried out by CIA on Saturday evening at a house in Kabul where he was sheltering to reunite with his family, US President Joe Biden said on Monday, declaring that “justice has been delivered and this terrorist is no more”.

This airstrike took place in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, at 6:18 am on Sunday morning (7:18 am IST). 

The safe house in which al-Zawahiri was hiding was in located the High Security Zone, known as Sherpur. The Embassy of India is located just two kilometers away from the area. The embassies of America and Canada are also not far from there. Offices of several Taliban ministers are also located in the same high-security area. This makes it obvious to understand that al-Zawahiri was hiding there with the help of Taliban government. 

What also needs to be noted is that the safe house in which al-Zawahiri was staying is said to be of a close friend of Sirajuddin Haqqani, a minister in the Taliban government and the head of the terrorist organisation Haqqani Network.

America's intelligence agencies started planning this airstrike six months ago. For this, information was collected about this safe house and how many citizens live in the area. They also analysed the structure of the three-storey building.

According to the United States, al-Zawahiri’s wife and daughter were also present in the safe house at the time of strike, but only the al-Qaeda chief was killed while his family was unharmed. 

For the operation, the US military used missiles and drones. According to the US, it used the MQ-9 Reaper Drone in this attack. This is the same drone, which was used to kill Iran's top commander General Qasim Soleimani in a missile attack.

The weight of this drone is 2,223 kg and it can fly up to 1,900 km carrying a weight of about 1,700 kg at a speed is 482 km per hour. Its biggest feature is that when it is only 250 to 300 meters above the ground, its noise is not heard by the target. 

Last year, when the US conducted air strikes in Kabul and Nangarhar, the same drone was used in them. America claims that it launched Hellfire missile from this drone to neutralise al-Zawahiri.

A major highlight of Hellfire missile is that it does not explode. It is equipped with six dangerous blades, which can pierce the roof of any vehicle and kill the target. 

Prior to 2010, when the US was carrying out an average of more than a thousand drone strikes in Pakistan every year, several civilians were killed and America was criticised all over the world. It was then that the US developed the Hellfire missile to neutralise specific targets. Al-Zawahiri was targeted and killed by this missile when he was standing in the balcony of the safe house. 

This attack was planned for nearly six months. US President Biden was first told about al-Zawahiri's location on July 1 and was shown a 3D model of the house. Then on July 25, Biden approved this airstrike. The major military operation has come almost a year after the US withdrer its forces from Afghanistan.

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