Ayman al-Zawahiri

Ayman al-Zawahiri was an Egyptian-born Islamist militant and physician who played a key role in global terrorism as the leader of al-Qaeda after Osama bin Laden's death in 2011. He was involved in the planning of attacks against U.S. and Western interests and was linked to the 9/11 attacks. Al-Zawahiri's ideology promoted jihad, or holy war, against perceived enemies of Islam. He was targeted by various countries and was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan in July 2022, marking the end of a significant figure in international terrorism.