It appears the US used a missile carrying six blades to kill al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri during a Saturday drone strike.
On Monday, President Biden announced the successful air strike, which occurred at the al-Qaeda chief’s residence in Kabul, Afghanistan. But surprisingly, none of al-Zawahiri’s family members or any nearby civilians were hurt in the attack.
The reason is likely because the US used a special Hellfire missile called the R9X to take down the al-Qaeda leader. Back in 2019, The Wall Street Journal documented the secret missile, which was designed to kill terrorist leaders without causing collateral damage.
The R9X Hellfire variant carries an inert payload. The weapon is designed to use its 100-pound weight and speed to simply crush a single target. The missile also carries a crown of six blades that can deploy and shred the target during the impact.
Biden didn’t say what kind of weapon was used to kill al-Zawahiri. But the White House told The New York Times that two Hellfire missiles were fired. Images reportedly of the destruction from the airstrike show that the residence al-Zawahiri was using still stands. However, a large window has been blown apart. The photos suggest R9X missiles were deployed to kill al-Zawahiri, according to Middle East analyst Charles Lister.
This is reportedly an image from the scene of the strike, in #Kabul's Sherpur neighborhood.
The apparent lack of explosive damage may suggest the U.S. used an R9X 'flying ginsu' missile, which is inert & carries self-deploying blades to kill a target with no collateral damage. pic.twitter.com/LLI31wT3Oe— Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) August 1, 2022
It’s likely not the first time an R9X was used to kill an al-Qaeda leader. Back in 2020, The Times reported that the US had used the R9X about “a half-dozen times in recent years" to try and take out al-Qaeda members, including while they were inside their cars.
The White House adds that al-Zawahiri had moved to the Kabul residence to reunite with his family. “This mission was carefully planned and rigorously minimized the risk of harm to other civilians,” Biden said in his Monday speech. “And one week ago, after being advised that the conditions were optimal, I gave the final approval to go get him, and the mission was a success.”