A truly surgical strike. Dawn had just broken in Kabul on Sunday morning when two missiles fired from an American drone hit the balcony on which al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri had just stepped out, killing him instantly. But the building bears no signs of an explosion and no one else was injured in the operation, according to US officials. These two elements suggest that the Americans used the Hellfire R9X, a missile equipped with six razor-shaped blades, which slices through its target but does not explode. According to New York Timesit was the CIA that coordinated the strike, and not the Pentagon.
little damage
Members of the al-Qaeda leader’s family were present in the house, but “were deliberately not targeted and were not injured”, said a US official. Photos show blown windows on one floor, but the rest of the building, including windows on other floors, are still in place.
