Much like Osama bin Laden was killed among his wives and children in Pakistan in 2011, Ayman al-Zawahiri, another terrorist, was killed in hiding among his wife and children in Afghanistan last Sunday.
According to the New York Times, al-Zawahiri was killed in hiding at a safe house belonging to the Taliban’s Interior Minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani. Unlike what he used to preach to youth, al-Zawahiri was not killed in combat or on a suicide mission.
Al-Zawahiri was killed like a coward, akin to bin Laden. The two terrorists were taken out after having unrightfully lured thousands of youth to their untimely death on battlefields fought without a just cause. They incited bloodshed and violations of sanctities and inflicted untold harm on Arabs and Islam.
No one has been able to exact similar harm since the dawn of Islam.
Affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood since childhood, al-Zawahiri contributed to brainwashing young people and had followed bin Laden in all the evil, killing, incitement, and violence. In the end, he died cowardly after helping bin Laden perpetuate the culture of death, bombing, and terrorism.
Bin Laden and al-Zawahiri have ushered young men to peril, and evil sheikhs have helped them, some of whom are now claiming to be keen on democracy and openness.
The two terrorists were financed by criminals against their homeland but ended up hiding among their children and women. This fact must remain a headline for their death and corrupt terrorism project.
We must remember them as the cowards they were and make an example of them for youth to come. They have exploited youth as cannon fodder for a corrupt war that harmed both people and Islam.
Their story must be used as a warning, especially to those trying pragmatism with the “Taliban” and claiming that the group has changed. We, alongside others, have advised against trusting the apparent shift.
Today, we stand before many questions regarding the group’s behavior: Since when the Taliban has been protecting al-Zawahiri? How did the terrorist end up living at the residence of the Taliban’s interior minister? What connection does Pakistan have, especially since it is where bin Laden was killed?
Who is left in Afghanistan and Pakistan? Is Saif al-Adl still in Iran, or has he moved to Afghanistan? Was al-Zawahiri in Iran or passed through its lands? Did the Americans hunt down al-Zawahiri based on intelligence information, or was his location given up as a “gift”?
Many questions deserve investigation and follow-up because they will reveal a lot. This sits at the heart of the fight against terrorism.
Our care for the subject exceeds that of the West. Moreover, those claiming that the page has been turned on bin Laden and al-Zawahiri are mistaken.
For us to avoid making the same mistake twice, we must know all the details.
For the thousandth time, it must be remembered and documented that the leaders of destruction, terrorism and sedition --bin Laden and al-Zawahiri—were killed like cowards, among their women and children, after they had sent other people’s children to perdition.
It is important to remember that al-Zawahiri had a Muslim Brotherhood upbringing, led a life of extremism, and was eventually killed like the coward he was--just like his fellow in evil, bin Laden.
