As the assassination of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in the Afghan capital of Kabul continues to attract attention, the British newspaper The Guardian reported that the villa where al-Zawahiri was killed belonged to the US Agency for International Affairs. Development, which was rented for dollars for 10 years.
The Guardian reported that “the theme of the villa was revealed by an American civilian contractor working in Afghanistan, Dan Smoak, who said that the balcony of the villa in Kabul where the al-Qaeda leader was killed was a place where he knew well and he used to stand while working in Afghanistan with the US government’s aid project.”
She also added that “US intelligence reports leaked information that al-Zawahiri liked to stand on this balcony because it had a view of Kabul and the operation was carried out while he was standing there.”
An area known for its land grabs.
She also explained that “the house with green mirrored walls on the balcony was in an area famous for the seizure of its lands and property by warlords and the technocratic elite of the Republic of Afghanistan, which collapsed last summer” after the US withdrawal and the Taliban takeover.
She pointed out that “with the escalation of the war, many of the villas they squeezed into small plots of land were rented by non-governmental organizations and contractors, including this villa, which was associated with the US Development Agency.”
While Smoke, a veteran of the US military in Iraq who also spent years doing civilian work in Afghanistan, confirmed that he lived “in the same place as the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks.”
He referred to information about the house and its inhabitants: “Something surreal. Everything is changing rapidly. Who knew he was enemy number one, with a $25 million bounty on his head, and he literally lives in the same place you used to live. … It’s incredible.”
