Ayman al-Zawahiri
1951 – 2022 Egyptian leader of al-Qaeda, physician
Egyptian militant who led Islamic Jihad, became bin Laden's deputy, and later headed al-Qaeda until a US strike killed him in 2022.
- Religion
- Sunni Muslim, Salafi jihadist
- Affiliations
- Egyptian Islamic Jihad, al-Qaeda
Ayman al-Zawahiri was a surgeon from a prominent Cairo family who became a leader of Egyptian Islamic Jihad and was imprisoned after the assassination of President Sadat. He merged his group with al-Qaeda and served as Osama bin Laden's deputy and chief ideologue, helping plan attacks including the 1998 embassy bombings and the September 11 attacks. He took over al-Qaeda after bin Laden's death in 2011 and led it, weakened and dispersed, through a decade of drone warfare. He was killed by a US drone strike in Kabul in 2022.
Connections
- associate of Osama bin Laden — His deputy and chief strategist, who succeeded him as leader of al-Qaeda.
- associate of Osama bin Laden — His deputy and successor as head of al-Qaeda.
In the timeline
- 1998 1998 US embassy bombing in Nairobi senior al-Qaeda figure
- 1998 Bin Laden announces World Islamic Front for Jihad mentioned
- 2001 The forever wars begin after 9/11 co-planner and later leader of al-Qaeda