It was around 6.18 am in Kabul on Sunday, July 31, 2022.
Al-Qaeda's Emir Ayman al-Zawahiri stepped out on the balcony of his home in the Afghan capital when death came calling from the sky for one of the planners of the 9/11 attacks.
Long before he became one of the world's most wanted men, al-Zawahiri had trained as a doctor in his native Egypt. Then he discovered jihad and nothing was the same again, for him or for the world.
IMAGE: Ayman Al-Zawahiri stands behind bars in an Egyptian court in 1982 during his trial as one of the masterminds behind the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in 1981.
Al-Zawahiri, a surgeon, became a member of Egyptian Islamic Jihad in 1981.
After three years in jail, convicted of being a member of an illegal Islamic group, Al-Zawahiri was expelled from the country.
He travelled to Pakistan, where he met Osama bin Laden.
Photograph: Getty Images
Al-Zawahiri, a surgeon, became a member of Egyptian Islamic Jihad in 1981.
After three years in jail, convicted of being a member of an illegal Islamic group, Al-Zawahiri was expelled from the country.
He travelled to Pakistan, where he met Osama bin Laden.
Photograph: Getty Images
IMAGE: Armed masked men stand guard as bin Laden, centre, and al-Zawahiri, left, address a news conference on May 26, 1998 in Afghanistan.
Photograph: Getty Images
Photograph: Getty Images
IMAGE: Bin Laden, left, with al-Zawahiri, during an interview with Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir (not pictured) in an image supplied by the Dawn newspaper, November 10, 2001.
Mir told Reuters he held the two-hour interview with bin Laden in Arabic at a secret location after a bone-jarring five-hour jeep ride from Kabul.
Photograph: Hamid Mir/Editor/Ausaf Newspaper for Daily Dawn/Reuters
Mir told Reuters he held the two-hour interview with bin Laden in Arabic at a secret location after a bone-jarring five-hour jeep ride from Kabul.
Photograph: Hamid Mir/Editor/Ausaf Newspaper for Daily Dawn/Reuters
IMAGE: In this video grab taken from a broadcast by Arab television, al-Zawahiri claims responsibility for the July 7, 2005 terror attacks in London.
The three explosions on London Underground trains and one on a bus killed at least 55 people and injured 700 during the morning rush hour terrorist attacks.
Photograph: Getty Images
The three explosions on London Underground trains and one on a bus killed at least 55 people and injured 700 during the morning rush hour terrorist attacks.
Photograph: Getty Images
IMAGE: A frame grab shows al-Zawahiri speaking in an Internet video released December 7, 2005.
Photograph: Reuters TV/Reuters
Photograph: Reuters TV/Reuters
IMAGE: Al-Zawahiri speaks in an image taken from video footage released on April 29, 2006.
Zawahiri said hundreds of suicide bombers had 'broken America's back' in three years of war in Iraq, according to a video posted on the Internet.
The release of the video came just days after the broadcast of an audio tape from bin Laden and a rare video from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the group's leader in Iraq.
Photograph: Handout/Reuters
Zawahiri said hundreds of suicide bombers had 'broken America's back' in three years of war in Iraq, according to a video posted on the Internet.
The release of the video came just days after the broadcast of an audio tape from bin Laden and a rare video from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the group's leader in Iraq.
Photograph: Handout/Reuters
IMAGE: Al-Zawahiri speaks in this still image taken from video uploaded on a social media Web site June 8, 2011, warning that the United States faces rebellion throughout the Muslim world after killing bin Laden.
In what appeared to be his first public response to bin Laden's death in a US commando raid in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, al- Zawahiri warned Americans not to gloat and vowed to press ahead with al-Qaeda's campaign against the US and its allies.
Photograph: Social Media Website/Reuters TV/Reuters
In what appeared to be his first public response to bin Laden's death in a US commando raid in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, al- Zawahiri warned Americans not to gloat and vowed to press ahead with al-Qaeda's campaign against the US and its allies.
Photograph: Social Media Website/Reuters TV/Reuters
IMAGE: Al-Qaeda released a message in which it declared al-Zawahiri as bin Laden's successor as the group's leader after US Navy Seals killed Osama at his home in Abbotabad, Pakistan.
Photograph: SITE Monitoring Service/Reuters TV/Reuters
Photograph: SITE Monitoring Service/Reuters TV/Reuters
IMAGE: Al-Zawahiri speaks in an undated video obtained by the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai al-Aam on June 20, 2001.
Interpol issued an arrest warrant September 25, 2001 for al-Zawahiri at the request of Egyptian authorities, the international police organisation said in a statement.
Photograph: Quality Video Document/Reuters
Interpol issued an arrest warrant September 25, 2001 for al-Zawahiri at the request of Egyptian authorities, the international police organisation said in a statement.
Photograph: Quality Video Document/Reuters
IMAGE: Al-Zawahiri is seen in an archive image displayed during the broadcast of an audio taped message, by Al Jazeera television, purportedly by al-Zawahiri urging more attacks on Americans, May 21, 2003.
Photograph: al-Jazeera Television/JV/Reuters
Photograph: al-Jazeera Television/JV/Reuters
IMAGE: A still image taken from Al Jazeera television archive video footage shows al-Zawahiri, left, with bin Laden at an unidentified location, but believed to be an al-Qaeda base in Afghanistan.
Photograph: al-Jazeera Television/HO/Reuters
Photograph: al-Jazeera Television/HO/Reuters
IMAGE: The 'Most Wanted Terrorist' poster for al-Zawahiri, released by the FBI on October 10, 2001 in Washington, DC.
Al-Zawahiri has been indicted for his alleged role in the bombings of the US embassies on August 7, 1998 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya.
Photograph: FBI/Getty Images
Al-Zawahiri has been indicted for his alleged role in the bombings of the US embassies on August 7, 1998 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya.
Photograph: FBI/Getty Images
IMAGE: A leaflet offering $25 million as a reward for information leading to the capture or whereabouts of bin Laden and al-Zawahiri is displayed November 20, 2001.
The leaflets were dropped from US planes over Afghanistan in local languages.
Photograph: Department of Defense/Getty Images
The leaflets were dropped from US planes over Afghanistan in local languages.
Photograph: Department of Defense/Getty Images
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
