The big man is dead. Ayman al-Zawahiri, once a surgeon and from a wealthy Egyptian family, was in the eye of the storm that al-Qaeda unleashed for years even before 9/11, an undoubtedly brilliant attack that led to the group becoming a household name. In what seems like a page out of a science fiction book, the successor to Osama bin Laden was killed while resting on a balcony in a posh area in Kabul that houses most embassies.
News anchors are billing this as US President Joe Biden’s ‘Bin Laden’ moment. The US intelligence community, in particular, certainly deserves kudos. But this may also be Pakistan’s ‘I give up’ moment. That is of far more significance for the region than a domestic poll win for a beleaguered President, or indeed the killing of a 71-year-old terrorist who had become something of an embarrassment to his hosts.