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WEEKEND AT BERNIE’S
Six months after he was taken out by a U.S. airstrike, al Qaeda is working on a plan to announce that their former leader Ayman al Zawahiri has died of ill-health.
Sami Yousafzai is The Daily Beast's correspondent in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he has covered militancy, al Qaeda, and the Taliban for Newsweek magazine and The Daily Beast since 9/11. He was born in Afghanistan but moved to Pakistan with his family after the Russian invasion in 1979. He began his career as a sports journalist but switched to war reporting in 1997.
OUT OF CONTROL
At least 100 people were killed or wounded during Friday prayers at a Shiite mosque.
OVER AND OUT
“There’s a lot of heartbreak associated with this departure, we did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out,” Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said.
FINAL SENDOFF
Among those killed in the blast: six children, including five younger than age 4.
‘BLOOD WAS EVERYWHERE’
Just hours after the U.S. military warned of an imminent terror threat, the explosions killed dozens of people, including at least 13 service members.
‘DEEPEST CONDOLENCES’
“He was a brilliant young player, a very good human,” his coach Mobin Muhammad told The Daily Beast through tears.
‘SAIGON ON STEROIDS’
Thousands of Afghans who helped the U.S. military and its allies during the bloody two-decade war are literally dying to get out of Kabul.
‘WAR IS OVER’
A source in Kabul told The Daily Beast that Taliban fighters recited verses from the Quran in a victory celebration as they overtook the presidential palace.
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‘WORSE AND WORSE’
U.S. forces are leaving Afghanistan as quickly and quietly as possible. The Taliban is interpreting that as a “terrible defeat” for the U.S.—and motivation for violence to come.
TOGETHER AT LAST
Now that the U.S. is withdrawing all troops from Afghanistan by September, the Taliban and al Qaeda have reinvigorated their co-fighting alliance.