Killing of Zawahri to impede Qaeda plans, weaken its elements’ morale: Egypt’s Al-Azhar observatory

CAIRO – 23 August 2022: The killing of Ayman Al-Zawahri, the leader of Al-Qaeda terrorist group, last month will impede a large part of the group’s plan and weaken the morale of its elements, Egypt’s Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism (AOCE) expects.

In a report, the observatory expected the killing of Zawahri, the successor of Usama bin Laden, to cause a state of confusion among the ranks of the group, whose media strategy is based on the group leaders.

Zawahri, an Egyptian doctor and founder of Egypt’s terrorist Islamic Jihad group, was killed in a US drone strike in the Afghan capital, Kabul, late in July, a step that has been internationally hailed.

While specialists agree that the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization is the greatest threat to the West, some of them consider Al-Qaeda to be the most dangerous terrorist organization in the long run, the observatory said.

“Therefore, fighting terrorism and eliminating its leaders must be accompanied by a fight against ideology and drying up the sources of social, economic, political and media extremism,” the observatory added.

Killing of Zawahri in Kabul comes a year after the US administration's highly criticized step to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.

The killing of Zawahiri demonstrates that the US is still able to carry out precision strikes in Afghanistan after last year’s troop withdrawal, The Washington Post quoted security experts as saying after the operation.

US President Joe Biden said in an address to the nation that Zawahri’s death — after he evaded capture for decades — sent a clear message: “No matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out.”

Biden said Zawahri’s death should help ensure Afghanistan can no longer “become a terrorist safe haven” and a “launching pad” for attacks against the US.

MENA contributed to the reporting.