"At the time of the drone strike, Zawahiri was sitting on the balcony of the house where he was hiding with his family in the center of the Afghan capital of Kabul. The home was owned by Sirajuddin Haqqani, “who is not only the leader of the Haqqani, but he is also the interior minister of Afghanistan,” said Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project and former coordinator of the ISIL, al-Qaida and Taliban Monitoring Team of the UN Security Council."

He “is not interested in fighting in the mountains. He thinks more internationally“, said of him Hamid Mir, biographer of Bin Laden, quoted by the think tank Counter-Extremism Project (CEP).
With him, in fact, “Al-Qaeda has become increasingly decentralized, with authority resting primarily in the hands of its affiliate officials“, adds the CEP which attributes to it a leading role in the reorganization of many jihadist groups.

"Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project and former coordinator of the ISIL, al-Qaida, and Taliban Monitoring Team of the UN Security Council, told The Media Line that the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan last August has led to a significant change in al-Qaida’s approach to its operations.

He explained that since bin Laden’s death and with the rise of his successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaida became decentralized. At the same time, it has managed to expand through affiliates, stepping back from centralized, large-scale terrorist operations against the West, and concentrating on creating a broader base in Islamic countries."

"On this week’s edition of 'The Hunt with WTOP National Security Correspondent J.J. Green,' Dr. Hans Jakob-Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, said Ayman Al- Zawahiri left clues to his whereabouts."