Al Qaeda terrorist group will pursue attacks undeterred by Zawahiri loss

The U.S. Hellfire missiles that killed Ayman al-Zawahiri dealt al Qaeda a powerful symbolic blow, but its far-flung branches are tactically independent and will not be deterred from plotting more attacks on local and Western targets, experts say.

On his watch, which began with the 2011 death of Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda’s original driving force, the group often lost ground to Islamic State in a contest for relevance, especially among young jihadis lured by the newer group’s self-proclaimed caliphate.

Handicapped by a reputation for inflexibility and small-mindedness and not widely popular, Zawahiri could not match bin Laden’s flair for reaching out from al Qaeda’s hideouts in south Asia to forge bonds with like-minded groups around the globe.

But as a vastly experienced figurehead who spoke regularly online to sympathisers, Zawahiri was important in signalling the group’s continuing global ambitions, the experts say.

“Zawahiri’s presence meant the continuation of an actual organisation, and he was very symbolic,” said H.A. Hellyer,a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“But the major question will be, who can fill that void for the group, especially in a world where groups like the Taliban are more powerful, to say nothing of ISIS (Islamic State)?”

Few potential replacements can match Zawahiri’s decades-long record as a jihadi. He used his prestige as a veteran militant to help rebuild al Qaeda in the face of a U.S. onslaught following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

But analysts say the identity of the top man has become less relevant, because tactically independent al Qaeda franchises run the day to day operations in their countries.

Source: Yahoo News