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Al-Zawahri was lengthy believed to have been dwelling in Pakistan. That he was killed in Kabul is a testomony to not solely the porous border between the 2 international locations but in addition to Al Qaeda’s decades-long use of services, homes, buildings and compounds all through each international locations, a U.S. official stated. And in contrast to the comparatively sleepy metropolis of Abbottabad, Pakistan, the place Bin Laden was killed by a commando raid in 2011, his successor apparently spent the final weeks of his life proper smack within the Afghan capital.
Earlier this yr, American intelligence sources discovered that al-Zawahri’s spouse, daughter and grandchildren had relocated to a home in Kabul, a senior administration official advised reporters throughout a convention name on Monday night time underneath White Home floor guidelines requiring anonymity. The official stated that the household had exercised longstanding terrorist tradecraft that was meant to stop anybody from following them.
Nonetheless, the official stated, American intelligence companies grew more and more assured that al-Zawahri was on the home as effectively. As they did within the case of Bin Laden, intelligence officers used completely different sources and strategies to construct a so-called sample of life that confirmed his presence, the official stated. As soon as al-Zawahri arrived on the location, American officers have been by no means conscious of him leaving, and he was noticed for sustained durations on the balcony the place he was in the end struck.
Two high aides to Mr. Biden — Jonathan Finer, his deputy nationwide safety adviser, and Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, his homeland safety adviser — have been first briefed on the intelligence in April. Later different officers have been introduced in, together with Jake Sullivan, the nationwide safety adviser, who briefed the president.
On July 1, William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director; Avril D. Haines, the director of nationwide intelligence; Christine Abizaid, the director of the Nationwide Counterterrorism Heart; and different officers mentioned the deliberate operation with Mr. Biden. They confirmed the president a mannequin of the home al-Zawahri was staying in, and Mr. Biden requested questions on climate, development supplies, threat to civilians and different components that might affect the success of the operation, the official stated.
The strike was an necessary achievement for Mr. Biden, whose unpopularity in polls has jeopardized his celebration’s probabilities within the midterm elections this fall and prompted fellow Democrats to induce him to let another person run in 2024. However such successes on the battlefield have had little lasting political profit for his predecessors. Profitable raids killing the top of the Islamic State and a high Iranian commander made no significant distinction for Mr. Trump, and even the raid that killed Bin Laden resulted in solely a brief bump within the polls for President Barack Obama.
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