Ayman al-Zawahiri

Ayman al-Zawahiri (born June 19, 1951, Egypt—died July 31, 2022, Kabul, Afghanistan) was an Egyptian physician and militant who became one of the major ideologues of al-Qaeda. Zawahiri led al-Qaeda from 2011 until his death in 2022.

Zawahiri was raised in Maʿādī, Egypt, several miles south of Cairo. Although his parents were from prominent families, Zawahiri and his siblings were raised in a relatively humble environment. Zawahiri was a pious youth. As a student, he was greatly influenced by the work of Sayyid Quṭb, an Egyptian writer who was one of the foremost figures in modern Sunni Islamic revivalism (see Islamism). By age 15 Zawahiri had established a group dedicated to the overthrow of the Egyptian government in favour of Islamic rule.

Zawahiri then studied at Cairo University’s medical school, where he specialized in surgery; there he also continued his clandestine activities. He graduated in 1974 and then served for three years as an army surgeon. In 1980–81 he traveled as a relief worker with the Red Crescent to Peshawar, Pakistan, where he treated refugees affected by the Afghan War. During that time he made several cross-border trips into Afghanistan, where he witnessed the warfare firsthand.

After returning to Egypt, Zawahiri was one of several hundred militants arrested in the wake of the assassination of Pres. Anwar Sadat in October 1981. Zawahiri was convicted of illegal arms possession and imprisoned for three years. During that time he was subjected to torture by intelligence officers interested in information about his contacts, an experience that intensified his militancy. In 1984 Zawahiri was released from prison. The following year he left for Saudi Arabia; from Jeddah he returned to Peshawar and then moved on to Afghanistan. During this period he became acquainted with Osama bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi who had joined the Afghan resistance to the Soviets, and in 1988 Zawahiri was present at the founding of al-Qaeda.

In the early 1990s Zawahiri assumed leadership of the militant group Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ). Bin Laden had departed for Sudan in 1992, and Zawahiri ultimately joined him there. Sudan served as a base for the training of militants and for attacks on Egyptian targets, including attacks on government officials and on the Egyptian embassy in Pakistan. In June 1995 an unsuccessful attempt was made to assassinate Egyptian Pres. Hosni Mubarak himself. Under international pressure, the Sudanese eventually expelled Zawahiri and bin Laden, along with their followers.

Zawahiri’s next movements are unclear; he appears to have traveled to European countries that included Switzerland, Bulgaria, and the Netherlands. In late 1996 he was arrested by Russian officials while illegally crossing the border en route to Chechnya, where he planned to launch a new base for EIJ. Although he was jailed for six months, Russian agents were apparently unaware of his identity until after his release.

In 1998 Zawahiri and bin Laden forged a formal alliance, and in June 2001 EIJ and al-Qaeda were merged. Zawahiri was closely affiliated with both the bombing of the USS Cole in October 2000 and the attacks of September 11, 2001. Zawahiri gradually became al-Qaeda’s chief spokesman, issuing commentary on issues such as the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 (see Iraq War) and the 2006 warfare between Hezbollah and Israel. In 2009 the U.S. Department of State determined that Zawahiri appeared to be al-Qaeda’s leading decision maker, while bin Laden reportedly occupied figurehead status.

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Zawahiri assumed formal leadership of al-Qaeda in June 2011, following bin Laden’s death during an American commando raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, the previous month. The group struggled to reclaim its relevance and maintain its organizational integrity after Zawahiri took the reins. Its affiliate in Iraq, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL; also called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria [ISIS]), bucked Zawahiri’s management in 2013. The Nusrah Front, al-Qaeda’s most prominent affiliate in the Syrian Civil War, rejected Zawahiri’s command in 2016. Both groups ultimately severed ties with al-Qaeda.

After the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan in 2021 and the United States withdrew its remaining troops, Zawahiri took up residence in Kabul, the capital city. The United States, after learning his whereabouts, killed him in a drone strike on July 31, 2022.