As the sun was rising in Kabul on Sunday, two Hellfire missiles fired by a U.S. drone ended Ayman al-Zawahri s decade-long reign as the leader of al Qaeda. The seeds of the audacious counterterrorism operation had been planted over many months.
U.S. officials say they built a scale model of the house, knew al-Zawahri was partial to sitting on the home's balcony, and became familiar with his movements