More than six months after the United States killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in an airstrike in Kabul, Afghanistan, leadership of the terror group appears to have quietly passed to his heir apparent in Iran, A new report from the United Nations, based on member state intelligence, concludes Saif al-Adel “is now the de facto leader of al-Qaida, representing continuity for now”….
Al-Qaida itself has been quiet about the status of its leadership following the July 31, 2022, strike that killed al-Zawahiri, but the report points to two reasons for the silence, Al-Adel’s leadership “cannot be declared because of al-Qaida’s sensitivity to Afghan Taliban concerns not to acknowledge the death of al-Zawahiri in Kabul and [al-Adel’s] presence in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the report states.
“His location raises questions that have a bearing on al-Qaida’s ambitions to assert leadership of a global movement in the face of challenges,” including from its rival, the Islamic State (IS) terror group, the report adds, Western intelligence agencies, including those in the United States, have long viewed al-Adel as a likely successor to al-Zawahiri, describing the former Egyptian special forces officer as a capable commander with vast operational experience in multiple locations.
