The missile that got al Zawahiri didn't use explosives

[Doc Sportello]

It uses six blades to kill.

Link to tweet

[PCIntern]

1. Ouch...that's gotta hurt...

Or not.

It’d be like running into a propellor.

[TheBlackAdder]

37. Like a Ronco Veg-O-Matic

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.

[TheBlackAdder]

39. That reminds me of this clip that never seems to get old.

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Starting at the 1:20 mark.

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[duckworth969]

2. Accuracy

I am baffled at that type of accuracy.

That must have been a bloody mess.

[Thomas Hurt]

9. I believe they are camera guided.

They fly them right into the target.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

15. They're laser guided, very very accurate. nt

[C_U_L8R]

3. The flying ginsu.

A fitting end.

[Deminpenn]

32. Indeed

Nt

[Atticus]

4. So, now his followers can truly be "piece keepers"! Professor---rimshot, please! nt

[underpants]

11. Yes!

Unlike the Bin Laden cocktail- 2 shots and a splash of water.

[Chainfire]

5. Another story says that it was Hellfire missiles that got him.

Not that it matters, dead is dead.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

6. It was a modified Hellfire missile,

the explosives were replaced with Ginsu knives guaranteed to stay sharp even when cutting through metal.

[mitch96]

14. "guaranteed to stay sharp even when cutting through metal. "...Yup...

[Amishman]

7. Also what was used to take out Mohammad Al Badawi

Russia can't hit the side of a building, we can take out a single person - with a missile sword - without having a single one of our people within a hundred miles.

[brush]

18. You hear that, Pootie? Better cool it in Ukraine.

and stay off balconies. These babies are much more precise than shoves out of windows.

[lpbk2713]

20. And they get results a lot sooner than poisoned tea.

...

[Hekate]

45. You have to recognize what Putin's goals are, & they have nothing to do with accuracy...

He wants the land, he doesn’t care how many people die for him to do it, he wants any survivors to be too terrorized to resist (hence the war crimes), and if all the cities are rubble he still doesn’t care.

The land is fertile, and there’s a really good seaport.

[roamer65]

8. Al-Zawaburger.

[uponit7771]

10. lol 👍,

[MarineCombatEngineer]

16. LOL.

[gab13by13]

12. He probably bled out rather quickly.

[BlackSkimmer]

22. I doubt he ever knew what hit him.

Would have been fast.

[misanthrope]

46. Agreed. The kinetic energy alone could have killed him

The blades made sure.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

13. I need one of those to clean out my weed patch.

..........

Seriously, kudus to the CIA for not destroying ten wedding parties in the process......

----------------

[louis-t]

24. Also good for kudzu.

A lot faster than using goats.

[Shrek]

17. I hope they were box-cutter blades

Seems fitting.

[dutch777]

19. I was worried about collateral damage...good tool for this toolbox

These bad folks frequently have extended family and other innocents living with or near them. Totally for killing the bad guy but worry about hurting innocents with US stamped on the weaponry.

[Beakybird]

21. Norelco is coming out with a version for men on the go who want a close shave.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

23. LOL.

[muriel_volestrangler]

25. So an ex-reporter claims; witnesses talk about a loud explosion

A loud blast was heard in the Shirpur neighborhood in central Kabul. The district, long a derelict area owned by the Afghan Defense Ministry, was converted into an exclusive residential area of large houses in recent years, with senior Afghan officials and wealthy individuals owning mansions there.

A few blocks away from the site, residents and shopkeepers spoke openly Tuesday morning about hearing the powerful blast. Some said they had been frightened by the roar and the ground shaking, while others said they had long been accustomed to such attacks during years of war.

“All the children ran away from the sound. We hadn’t heard anything like it since the old government was in charge,” said Haq Asghar, a retired army officer chatting outside a hardware shop. He said that Shirpur was tightly controlled by the Taliban, and that anyone occupying a house or shop had to provide detailed documents and information.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/01/zawahiri-al-qaeda-killed/

Unverified pictures on social media of what was described as the target of the attack showed shattered windows of a pink building, its fences topped with rolls of barbed wires. The house appeared two to three stories tall and ringed by trees.
...
A woman who lives in the neighbourhood and spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said she and her family of nine moved to the safe-room of their house when she heard an explosion at the weekend. When she later went to the rooftop, she saw no commotion or chaos and assumed it was some rocket or bomb attack - which are not uncommon in Kabul.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/al-qaedas-zawahiri-survived-harsh-mountains-killed-posh-kabul-locality-2022-08-02/

[Doc Sportello]

26. He has more credibility than your take

First, calling Jay Hancock an ex-reporter is misguided; he is a retired journalist after putting in 40 years covering the State Department, healthcare and economics for the Baltimore Sun and Virginia Pilot. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and has a master's from one of the top journalism schools in the country, Northwestern.

Pics above show the damage the missile can do without using an explosion.

[muriel_volestrangler]

27. As you say (and he does too), he's a retired journalist, ie ex-reporter

And "my take" is what current reporters say in their reports from Afghanistan, rather someone apparently in the USA, who is no longer in a position where he has to fact-check what he writes. So, no, he doesn't have more credibility than Reuters and the Washington Post.

[Doc Sportello]

30. Still wrong

You know that you used ex-reporter to question his credibility, which isn't in question to anyone who knows journalism. And Reuters and Wapo never claimed that it was proven to be an explosion; they quoted neighbors who said they heard a "blast" or an explosion. Only in your mind does that mean it's verified as an explosion.

Here's the building:
https://images.app.goo.gl/CuREHepZTsToHyF78

That doesn't look like an explosive missile hit it. The point is you were questioning the veracity of a respected journalist who simply posted a graphic of the missile that did the job, as if that dismissed the fact it was used. But I'm sure the photo will be questioned like the journalist. For what reasons are not clear.

[muriel_volestrangler]

34. The point is he's not a reporter out there, or working in a current newsroom

So he does not have the resources of someone who is. What convinced him it was a bladed missile was unknown. You say that type of missile "did the job", but we have no idea why he thinks that. For all we know, he just read the Indian article your picture comes from.

You're asserting that I'm "wrong". At least we now have a picture of the damage; this is finally the first bit of evidence that any explosion was unlikely to be large. But yeah, people saying "explosion" does indeed indicate an explosion.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

36. The "explosion" the heard was likely the missile hitting the target at about Mach 1.3

Last edited Tue Aug 2, 2022, 05:36 PM - Edit history (1)

which will create a hell of a bang even without the explosive warhead.

When Air Force, Navy, Marine and Army pilots practice hitting targets with dummy bombs, missiles, they still make a hell of a racket when they hit the target which sounds like an actual explosion.

Hope that helps explain the "explosion" the people heard.

[Doc Sportello]

38. He never claimed to be a reporter on the scene

His journalistic credentials are impressive, and for whatever weird reason you decided to turn the post into an indictment of him. It was a twitter post, not reportage from the scene, as you seem to think, and neither he nor I claimed any different. He just posted a graphic of the weapon believed to have been used, as many others have also claimed. Why you think this is some hill to die on I don't know.

[fescuerescue]

33. Well it was still a jet powered steel tube, with a load of fuel and traveling 600 mph.

That's going to make a loud, explosion sounding noise when it hits the ground even if it doesn't have a bomb.

[Doc Sportello]

40. Thank you

I thought that was obvious but obviously not to one poster.

[moondust]

28. How did they verify the kill?

[CottonBear]

41. Maybe drone cameras on the drone that launched the missle?

Maybe we’re not suppose to know how…

[Kaleva]

49. The same way they do when they blow up a terrorist into smitherins

[Baked Potato]

29. For a split second... "You've got to be shitting me...".

[Sky Jewels]

31. Looks like a James Bond weapon.

[Ishoutandscream2]

35. It slices! It dices!

Watch! This is grated cheese. A sticky, gooey mess!

[CottonBear]

43. It's a missle launched, high powered food processor!

😱😱😱😱😱

[MarineCombatEngineer]

44. Soylent Green.

[Mr.Bill]

47. I'm assuming there will not be an

open casket.

[eppur_se_muova]

48. Or maybe six, but definitely not open. nt