London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 15, 2025

Al-Qaeda's 'Bizarre' Silence Over Killed Leader

Al-Qaeda's 'Bizarre' Silence Over Killed Leader

In early August, US President Joe Biden said US armed forces fired two missiles from a drone flying above the Afghan capital, striking al-Zawahiri's safe house and killing him.
Five months after the United States announced the killing of Al-Qaeda's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan, the global jihadist group has still not confirmed his death or announced a new boss.

In early August, US President Joe Biden said US armed forces fired two missiles from a drone flying above the Afghan capital, striking al-Zawahiri's safe house and killing him.

But the group's propaganda arms have continued to broadcast undated audio or video messages of the bearded Egyptian ideologue who led the group after US special forces in 2011 killed its charismatic founder Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

"This is really bizarre," said Hans-Jakob Schindler, director of the Counter-Extremism Project think tank.

"A network only works with a leader. You need a person around which everything coalesces."

Almost all options remain open.

"It could of course be the case that the United States is wrong about his death," researchers Raffaello Pantucci and Kabir Taneja wrote in early December on the Lawfare website.

But "this would seem unlikely given the confidence with which President Biden publicly spoke about the strike."

Successor in hiding?

Another possibility is that the group has so far failed to make contact with Zawahiri's most likely successor, his former number two, who goes by the nom de guerre Saif al-Adl or "sword of justice".

A former Egyptian special forces lieutenant-colonel who turned to jihadism in the 1980s, he is believed by observers to be in Iran.

The Islamic republic's Shiite rulers officially oppose Sunni Al-Qaeda, but opponents have repeatedly accused Iran of cooperating with the network and giving sanctuary to its leaders.

For Schindler, Saif al-Adl "is a liability but also an asset for the Iranian regime".

According to its interests, Tehran could decide to hand him over to the United States, or allow him to attack the West.

Al-Qaeda may also be keeping quiet about Zawahiri's demise under pressure from the Taliban, Pantucci and Taneja suggested.

The group issued a carefully worded statement in August, neither confirming Zawahiri's presence in Afghanistan nor acknowledging his death.

"Their decision not to comment could be part of their efforts to manage their fragile but deep relationship with Al-Qaeda, while also avoiding drawing attention to the foreign terror group presence in direct contravention of their agreement with the United States," they said.

Saif al-Adl could also be dead or in hiding to avoid the fate of his predecessor or the two last leaders of the network's main rival, the Islamic State group, who were also killed last year.

Zawahiri did not try to emulate bin Laden's charisma and influence after he took over the network but played a key role in decentralising the group.

Al-Qaeda is today a far cry from the group that carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States.

It now has autonomous franchises scattered across the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia that are far less dependent on central command than previously in terms of operations, funding and strategy.

'Limited importance'

Barak Mendelsohn, a US-based Al-Qaeda expert, said it was hard to tell why the group was taking time to announce a new leader, adding that the delay was not "very consequential".

"Ultimately the wait reflects Al-Qaeda central's limited importance," he said.

"It's a symbol unifying groups across borders, but its operational relevance is low."

Al-Qaeda's arch-enemy Islamic State has faced similar difficulties in filling its leadership since its "caliph" Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killed himself during a US raid in Syria in 2019.

After his two successors were killed last year, IS this autumn chose a relative unknown as its new chief, who claims heritage from the prophet's Quraysh tribe to boost his legitimacy.

Tore Hamming, a fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, said it was not essential for Al-Qaeda to have a symbolic leader to speak in its name.

"We have seen with the Islamic State (group) since 2019, it does not necessarily matter," he said.

IS elected new caliphs, but "no one knew who they were and never heard from them. Yet still affiliates remained loyal," he explained.

"For Al-Qaeda it could be the same, just with a council of senior figures playing the role of an amir," or leader.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
×