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Bin Laden’s deputy, Al-Zawahiri killed in US drone strike
A United States drone strike killed Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri at a hideout in Kabul, President Joe Biden said Monday, declaring that “justice had been delivered” to the families of the 9/11 attacks.
Zawahiri’s assassination is the biggest blow to Al-Qaeda since US special forces killed Osama bin Laden in 2011 and calls into question the Taliban’s promise not to harbour militant groups.
It was the first known over-the-horizon strike by the US on a target in Afghanistan since Washington withdrew its forces from the country on August 31 last year, days after the Taliban swept back to power.
“Justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more,” Biden said in a sombre televised address, adding he hoped Zawahiri’s death would bring “closure” to families of the 3,000 people killed in the US on September 11, 2001.
Zawahiri was believed to be the mastermind who steered Al-Qaeda’s operations — including the 9/11 attacks — as well as bin Laden’s personal doctor.
A senior administration official said the 71-year-old Egyptian was on the balcony of a three-storey house in the Afghan capital when targeted with two Hellfire missiles after dawn Sunday.
“We identified Zawahiri on multiple occasions for sustained periods of time on the balcony where he was ultimately struck,” the official said.
The house is in Sherpur, one of Kabul’s most affluent neighbourhoods, with several villas occupied by high-ranking Taliban officials and commanders.
The interior ministry previously denied reports of a drone strike circulating on social media, telling AFP a rocket struck “an empty house” in Kabul, causing no casualties.
Early Tuesday, however, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted that an “aerial attack” was carried out.
“The nature of the incident was not revealed at first,” he said.
“The security and intelligence agencies of the Islamic Emirate investigated the incident and found in their preliminary investigations that the attack was carried out by American drones.”
‘Grossly violated’
Although Biden did not mention the Taliban in his televised address, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said “by hosting and sheltering” Zawahiri, the Islamist group had “grossly violated the Doha Agreement” which paved the way for America’s withdrawal.
Zabihullah, in turn, accused Washington of breaking the 2020 deal.
“Such actions are a repetition of the failed experiences of the past 20 years and are against the interests of the United States of America, Afghanistan, and the region,” he said.
Zawahiri, who grew up in a comfortable Cairo household before turning to violent radicalism, had been on the run since the 9/11 attacks.
He took over Al-Qaeda after bin Laden was killed, and had a $25 million US bounty on his head.
News of his death comes a month before the first anniversary of the final withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, leaving the country in the hands of the Taliban insurgency that fought Western forces for two decades.
Under the Doha deal, the Taliban promised not to allow Afghanistan to be used again as a launchpad for international jihadism, but experts believe the group never broke ties with Al-Qaeda.
“What we know is that the senior Haqqani Taliban were aware of his presence in Kabul,” the senior US official said.
Afghan Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani also heads the feared Haqqani Network, a brutal subset of the Taliban blamed for some of the worst violence of the past 20 years and which has been described by US officials as a “veritable arm” of Pakistani intelligence.
In Sherpur, locals told AFP they long thought the targeted house — surrounded by high walls and barbed wire, with green tarpaulin covering the balcony where Zawahiri was believed to have been killed — was empty.
“We have not seen anybody living there for almost a year,” said an employee of a nearby office.
“It has always been in dark, with not a single bulb lit.”
Doctor turned jihadist
Zawahiri lacked the potent charisma that helped bin Laden rally jihadists around the world but willingly channelled his analytical skills into the Al-Qaeda cause.
Still, the group is believed to have been degraded since the US invasion of Afghanistan, and the White House official said Zawahiri was “one of the last remaining figures who carried this kind of significance”.
The organisation is “at a crossroads”, said Soufan Center researcher Colin Clarke.
“Despite Zawahiri’s leadership, which minimised AQ’s losses while rebuilding, the group still faces serious challenges going forward. For one, there’s the question of who will lead Al-Qaeda after Zawahiri’s gone.”
Zawahiri’s father was a renowned physician and his grandfather a prayer leader at Cairo’s Al-Azhar institute, the highest authority for Sunni Muslims.
He became involved with Egypt’s radical Islamist community at a young age and published several books which came for many to symbolise the movement.
He left Egypt in the mid-1980s, heading for Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar where the resistance to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan was based.
Thousands of Islamist fighters were flooding into Afghanistan at the time, setting the stage for Zawahiri’s first meeting with bin Laden.
In 1998 he became one of five signatories to bin Laden’s “fatwa” calling for attacks against Americans.
Jihadist monitor SITE said some militants were questioning the veracity of the report he had been killed, while others believed Zawahiri had achieved his desire of “martyrdom.”
The global oil market has recorded losses exceeding $50bn following massive supply disruptions triggered by the ongoing Iran war, which has now stretched to nearly 50 days.
Data from energy analytics firm Kpler showed that more than 500 million barrels of crude oil and condensate have been wiped off the global market since the crisis began in late February, making it the largest energy supply disruption in modern history.
Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, on Friday said the Strait of Hormuz had been reopened after a ceasefire agreement reached in Lebanon.
However, tensions escalated again on Saturday as Tehran warned it could shut the strategic waterway if the United States sustains its blockade of Iranian ports.
Also, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed optimism that a deal to end the conflict could be reached “soon,” although he did not provide a definite timeline.
Analysts warned that the scale of disruption could have prolonged effects on global energy stability, with shocks expected to linger for months or even years.
Providing context, Principal Analyst at Wood Mackenzie, Iain Mowat, said the 500 million barrels lost is equivalent to grounding global aviation demand for 10 weeks, halting all road transport worldwide for 11 days, or shutting down the entire global oil supply for five days.
Further estimates showed that the lost volume is nearly equal to one month of oil demand in the United States or more than a month’s supply for Europe. It also represents about six years of fuel consumption by the U.S. military and could power global shipping activities for approximately four months.
The crisis has significantly affected oil-producing nations in the Gulf, with output losses reaching about eight million barrels per day in March—roughly equivalent to the combined production of two of the world’s largest oil companies.
Jet fuel exports from major producers, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman, dropped sharply from 19.6 million barrels in February to just 4.1 million barrels recorded across March and April combined. Analysts said the shortfall could have powered about 20,000 round-trip international flights.
With crude prices averaging around $100 per barrel since the onset of the conflict, the lost volumes translate to an estimated $50bn in revenue. Experts noted that this figure is equivalent to about one per cent of Germany’s annual Gross Domestic Product, or roughly the size of the economies of smaller European countries.
Meanwhile, global onshore crude inventories have declined by about 45 million barrels in April alone, while total production outages have risen to approximately 12 million barrels per day since late March.
Industry experts cautioned that unless a lasting resolution is reached, the disruption could intensify volatility in global oil markets, worsen inflationary pressures, and further strain fragile economies worldwide.
A member of the House of Representatives representing Ibarapa East/Ido Federal Constituency and Chairman of the House Committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, Aderemi Oseni, has been nominated for a Special Award in Politics at the 2026 City People Political Awards.
The nomination was conveyed in a letter dated April 13, 2026, signed by the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of City People Magazine, Seye Kehinde.
The development was disclosed in a statement issued by Oseni’s media aide, Idowu Ayodele, and made available to journalists in Ibadan on Thursday.
According to the statement, the lawmaker earned the nomination in recognition of his “outstanding contributions to politics in Oyo State, particularly in Ibarapa East/Ido Federal Constituency.”
The organisers noted that Oseni emerged as a nominee following a comprehensive review of performances across sectors by the award’s selection committee.
Part of the letter read, “Having performed creditably well in your sector last year, the Organising Committee presented you as a nominee in your sector.”
The award ceremony is scheduled to hold on Sunday, May 3, 2026, at Etal Hall, Kudirat Abiola Way, Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos, at 4pm.
The City People Awards is an annual event that recognises individuals who have distinguished themselves in governance, public service and other sectors of national development.
The Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company has announced a crackdown on individuals who assault its staff, warning that offenders will face prosecution and public exposure.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the company expressed concern over what it described as a “disturbing surge” in attacks on its field workers and third-party partners.
It noted that the affected personnel were mainly engaged in meter installation, revenue collection and maintenance of electricity infrastructure.
According to the firm, the increasing cases of harassment, physical assault and unlawful detention of its workers pose a serious threat to employee safety and the stability of electricity service delivery across its franchise areas.
The Deputy Managing Director, Abubakar Mohammed, said the company would no longer tolerate any form of aggression against its workforce.
“Let this serve as a clear warning to anyone who engages in the assault of our staff. Kaduna Electric will pursue every case to its logical conclusion,” he said.
“We will work closely with security agencies to ensure offenders are brought to justice and face the full weight of the law,” Mohammed added.
He further disclosed that the company would publicly reveal the identities of individuals found culpable.
According to him, names, photographs and other details of offenders would be published on the company’s official platforms as well as in national and local media.
“This measure is intended to ensure accountability and serve as a strong deterrent. Anyone who chooses to attack our personnel should be prepared not only to face prosecution but also public exposure,” he added.
The company stressed that assaults on utility workers attract serious legal and financial consequences, noting that offenders risk criminal charges that may lead to fines or imprisonment.
It added that perpetrators could also face civil liabilities, including compensation for medical treatment, psychological trauma and loss of work hours.
While condemning the attacks, Kaduna Electric urged customers to adopt peaceful and lawful means of resolving disputes.
It advised aggrieved customers to channel complaints through its customer service units or appropriate regulatory bodies.
The management reaffirmed its commitment to protecting its workforce and partners, stressing that a safe working environment is essential for delivering reliable and efficient electricity services.
Although disputes between electricity providers and consumers are often linked to billing issues, metering challenges and service delivery concerns, the company maintained that such matters must be resolved through dialogue, insisting that violence against its staff will no longer be tolerated.
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