Al-Qaeda

Divisions

• Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)

2022: CIA eliminates al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul

On August 1, 2022, US President Biden announced the elimination of the leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization (banned in Russia) Ayman al-Zawahiri during a special operation conducted by the CIA.

On Sunday, July 31, at 06.18 local time, a residential building in the Sherpur area in the Afghan capital Kabul was hit by Hellfire missiles from the MQ-9B UAV. Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was on the balcony at the time of the strike, was hiding in the building.

Айман аз-Завахири

Joe Biden noted that during the operation, planned more than a month ago, none of the civilians or family members of the al-Qaeda leader were injured. The US government did not warn the Taliban leadership about the impending strike.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahed condemned the actions of the American authorities, calling them a direct violation of the 2020 Doha Agreement. According to the American side, the leaders of the Taliban movement knew about the presence of Az-Zawahiri in Kabul.

There is unconfirmed information on the Web that the building in which the head of al-Qaeda was hiding belonged to the Haqqani family, and in addition to al-Zawahiri, two more people were killed, including the son and son-in-law of the current Taliban interior minister.

The Taliban themselves said the house was empty at the time of the strike. There is a version on the Web that US intelligence was paired with Pakistani colleagues. There is an opinion that in the published photo of the drone over Kabul, the Wing Loong II UAV of the Pakistani Air Force is not MQ-9B.

The liquidation of Az-Zawahiri confirms the information that went on the Web about providing shelter to the fugitive terrorists of the organization. Taliban officials have repeatedly claimed to have no ties to al-Qaeda.

In the eyes of the radicals, the reputation of the Taliban movement will inevitably shake, and a split is possible among the Taliban, wrote the Rybar telegram channel. The Afghan segment of Twitter is already circulating information about the serious conflict between Sirajuddin Haqqani and acting Taliban Defense Minister Muhammad Yaqub, who allegedly transmitted data on the location of Al-Zawahiri during a trip to Qatar last month.

The Afghan branch of the Islamic State, Vilayat Khorasan, will benefit from the weakening of al-Qaeda. A reputational blow to the Taliban will strengthen the position of militants in the region. Disillusioned with the Taliban and seeing al-Qaeda defenseless, the radicals will go to "competitors."

2016: Restart of West African gold exports

In 2016, al-Qaeda and Islamic State-linked movements seized hundreds of semi-abandoned and artisanal gold mines in Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, becoming security guarantors and resellers for millions of illegal prospectors. They declared the collection of zakat from prospectors a "halal" practice and - to the great delight of local residents - abandoned the increasingly less profitable abductions for ransom.

Precious metal mined at the mines they control is sent to Togo, and from there it is transported to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Switzerland and India. As the Zangaro Today telegram channel wrote, in just one year, jihadists became the main employers for residents of remote and depressed desert districts, got rich by $2 billion and found an inexhaustible source of recruits in mines and in the surrounding settlements, welcoming bans on alcohol and prostitution and distribution of alms among those in need.