Editing Ayman al-Zawahiri (section)

===Leader of al-Qaeda===
On June 16<sup>th</sup>, 2011, al-Qaeda announced that al-Zawahiri had been selected as bin Laden's successor as al-Qaeda's former leader had been killed during the United States' raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan several months prior.<ref>[https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/profile-ayman-al-zawahiri Profile: Ayman al-Zawahiri], Council on Foreign Relations</ref>

Al-Zawahiri's current whereabouts are unknown, but he is generally thought to be in tribal Pakistan. Although he releases videos of himself frequently, al-Zawahiri did not appear alongside bin Laden in any of them after 2003. In 2003, it was rumored that he was under arrest in Iran, although this was later discovered to be false. 

In 2004, the Pakistan Army launched an aggressive operation in Wana, Pakistan. Reports began to surface that he was trapped in the center of the conflict by the army. But when, after weeks of fighting, the army captured the area, it was later revealed that he either escaped or was never among the fighters. As the conflict spread into the tribal areas of western Pakistan, Ayman al-Zawahiri became a prime target of the ISI's Directorate for Joint Counterintelligence Bureau (J-COIN Bureau). However, despite a series of operations they were unable to capture him.

On January 13, 2006, the Central Intelligence Agency, aided by Pakistan's ISI, launched an airstrike on Damadola, a Pakistani village near the Afghan border where they believed al-Zawahiri was located. The airstrike was supposed to kill al-Zawahiri and this was reported in international news over the following days. Many victims of the airstrike were buried without being identified. Anonymous U.S. government officials claimed that some terrorists were killed and the Bajaur tribal area government confirmed that at least four terrorists were among the dead. Anti-American protests broke out around the country and the Pakistani government condemned the U.S. attack and the loss of innocent life. On January 30, a new video was released showing al-Zawahiri unhurt. The video discussed the airstrike, but did not reveal if al-Zawahiri was present in the village at that time.

On August 1, 2008, CBS News reported that it had obtained a copy of an intercepted letter dated July 29, 2008, from unnamed sources in Pakistan, which urgently requested a doctor to treat al-Zawahiri. The letter indicated that al-Zawahiri was critically injured in a US missile strike at Azam Warsak village in South Waziristan on July 28 that also reportedly killed al Qaeda explosives expert [[Abu Khabab al-Masri]]. [[Taliban]] Mehsud spokesman Maulvi Umar told the Associated Press on August 2, 2008, that the report of al-Zawahiri's injury was false.<ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/taliban-denies-al-qaedas-no-2-wounded/ Taliban Denies Al Qaeda's No. 2 Wounded], ''CBS News''</ref>

In early September 2008, Pakistan Army claimed that they "almost" captured al-Zawahiri after getting information that he and his wife were in the Mohmand Agency, in northwest Pakistan. After raiding the area, officials didn't find him.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/09/02/pakistan.zawahiri.capture.missed/index.html Pakistan misses al Qaeda's No.2 in raids], ''CNN''</ref>

In June 2013, al-Zawahiri arbitrated against the merger of the Islamic State of Iraq with the Syrian-based [[Al-Nusra Front]] into [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] as was declared in April by [[Abu Bakr al-Baghadi]]. [[Abu Mohammad al-Julani]], leader of al-Nusra Front, affirmed the group's allegiance to al-Qaeda and al-Zawahiri.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/al-qaeda-disavows-any-ties-with-radical-islamist-isis-group-in-syria-iraq/2014/02/03/2c9afc3a-8cef-11e3-98ab-fe5228217bd1_story.html Al-Qaeda disavows any ties with radical Islamist ISIS group in Syria, Iraq], ''The Washington Post''</ref>