The claim
It is alleged that Ayman al-Zawahiri died of an asthma attack in November 2020, not in a drone strike at the end of July.
Our conclusion
The death reports at the time were based more on rumors; there was no official confirmation of death from any quarter at the time. Between November 2020 and July 2022, several videos proved that al-Zawahiri was still alive.
On August 1, US President Joe Biden announced in a speech that Ayman al-Zawahiri, leader of Al-Qaeda and successor to Osama bin Laden, was killed in a drone strike on Sunday morning at 6:48 a.m. (local time, Saturday evening in the US ) was killed.
However, articles were already circulating in November 2020 that al-Zawahiri died of an asthma attack, which is why some now believe that the current report is pure propaganda to boost Biden's poll numbers.
But the al-Qaeda leader was never declared dead after November 2020.
The claims
In fact, several articles appeared in November 2020 reporting the alleged death of the al-Qaeda leader (see HERE and HERE and HERE ). It is unanimously written that he probably died of an asthma attack, but in most articles there is sometimes more or less doubt about this because there was no confirmation and false reports of his death had already circulated before.
These articles have now been found by various users and sites, which is why the current report is called pure propaganda, for example here on Twitter :

A site known in certain circles for “uncut news” (archived HERE ) also suspects that the current report is pure propaganda for Joe Biden, since the midterms (primary elections) will take place in November 2022.
The source of the November 2020 claim
What we noticed when looking through many articles from November 2020 was that the sources were either linked to one another or that the death reports at the time can be traced back to a single source: an article on the “Arab News” site from November 20, 2020 (archived HERE ).
It says the following:
“Arab News spoke to at least four security sources in Pakistan and Afghanistan who confirmed Zawahiri's death.
Source: Arab News
Two said he died. […]
“He [Zawahiri] died in Ghazni last week,” an al-Qaeda translator who still maintains close ties with the group told Arab News on Tuesday.
“He died of asthma because he had no formal treatment.” […]
A Pakistani security official in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan also said Zawahiri was dead.
“We believe he is no longer alive,” he said and didn't want to give his name.
“We are sure that he died of natural causes.” […]
A spokesman for Afghanistan's spy agency, the National Directorate of Security, told Arab News that he had not heard of Zawahiri's death and that the organization had no comment on the matter."
So there were confirmations to “Arab News” from unknown sources, but even then there was uncertainty, as there was no confirmation of his death, which was also reflected in many of the articles at the time.
Doubts about his death grew in the months that followed, as there was no confirmation of his death from the US government either. The FBI also continued to list al-Zawahiri as Alive and Wanted (see HERE ). It was also considered unusual that al-Qaeda did not report his death: normally a new leader is chosen and announced within two months, but there was silence from this side too... until March 2021.
First sign of life in March 2021?
On March 12, 2021, a video titled “ The Rohingya are the wound of the entire Ummah ” surfaced. In the almost 22-minute video, al-Zawahiri can only be heard for three minutes and forty-five seconds and he can hardly be seen, which is at least unusual .
Therefore, it was still suspected that the al-Qaeda leader may have died in November 2020.
Through various wording, the video even fuels rumors about his death, but on the other hand it was also suspected that it was a tactical move by al-Qaeda: If the USA believes that al-Zawahiri is dead and al-Qaeda is weak, they would have more reason to do so to withdraw from Afghanistan - and the withdrawal began in April 2021 and was in August 2021 .
September 2021: Ayman al-Zawahiri is lively
The timing couldn't have been better: After the US finally withdrew from Afghanistan, al-Zawahiri spoke out in a video on the 20th anniversary of the attacks on September 11, 2001 (see HERE , HERE , HERE , HERE , HERE and HERE ).
This time there is hardly any doubt about its authenticity: In his speech, which is over 60 minutes long, he also addresses more recent events, such as the Al-Qaeda attack on a Russian military base in Syria at the beginning of January 2021 and the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
April 2022: al-Zawahiri praises an Indian Muslim woman
There were still slight doubts about the video from September 2021 because the al-Qaeda leader did not address some important topics, but the video from April convinced even the last doubters that al-Zawahiri is still alive: in a video he praises al-Qaeda -Chief an Indian Muslim woman who defied the ban on the traditional headscarf (hijab) in February.
May 2022: al-Zawahiri blames the US for the attack on Ukraine
In a 27-minute video in which Ayman al-Zawahiri sits at a desk with books and a rifle, he says that the "weakness of the United States" is the reason its ally Ukraine became "prey" for the Russian invasion (see HERE , HERE and HERE ).
He called for Muslim unity, said the United States was in a state of weakness and decline and cited the impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that began after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The death of the al-Qaeda leader
On August 1, al-Zawahiri's death was officially announced . Accordingly, he died in a targeted drone attack on his home in Kabul. This attack was prepared for months to be absolutely certain that al-Zawahiri was also in the house.
According to Reuters , senior government officials knew where al-Zawahiri was hiding since early April. Through several independent sources, a behavioral pattern was created that served as the basis for the operation.
Since his family also lives in the house, a “simple” bombing proved difficult, as civilians would undoubtedly be killed as well. Because of this, an armed drone was positioned and then shot at al-Zawahiri when he was alone on the balcony.
Conclusion
Since November 2020, when only a few unknown sources confirmed the al-Qaeda leader's death to a media outlet, there have been several videos featuring him. Especially after August 2021, when the USA withdrew troops from Afghanistan, the videos increased again, while he hardly appeared at the beginning of 2021 and his death continued to be speculated.
The claim that he has now died for the second time and that the current death report is pure propaganda can therefore be viewed as false: the death reports at the time were based more on rumors and there was no official confirmation of his death at the time.
Also interesting:
The owner of Creos Luxembourg, an electricity and natural gas network operator in Luxembourg, announced last week that the pipeline company had fallen victim to the now well-known hacker group ALPHV, better known as BlackCat.
– BlackCat: Cyber attack on European gas pipeline
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

