Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda Leader and 9/11 Strategist, Dies at 71

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri, a founding member of the jihadist movement and one of the key strategists behind an international campaign of terror that culminated in the 9/11 attacks on the U.S., has been killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan, U.S. congressional officials said. He was 71.

From his days as a young medical student who organized underground Islamist cells in Cairo to his years as Osama bin Laden’s top lieutenant in al Qaeda, Zawahiri was a seminal figure of modern jihad as it transformed from a movement seeking...