America's ninja bomb extinguishes al-Qeda leader

Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed by two ninja-style Hellfire missiles fitted with long blades that would have sliced through his body as he sat on the balcony of his “safe” house in Kabul. The RX9 Hellfire missile, favoured by the terrorist hunters of the CIA and America’s special forces, was selected for the targeting mission because of the low risk of collateral damage. The RX9 carries no explosives but is fitted with reinforced metal in its tip with six extendable blades. The ninja missiles were believed to have been fired from a Reaper drone that could have taken off from a Gulf state, such as Qatar or United Arab Emirates, or even from the US. The strike on the al-Qaeda leader was at least the 12th time the US has used the ninja missile to target terrorists. It has also been called the “flying Ginsu”. Abu al-Khayr al-Masiri, an al-Qaeda deputy leader, was killed with the same weapon in a drone strike in Idlib province, Syria in February, 2017. He was travelling in a vehiclewhen the roof was sliced open by an RX9. It was believed to have been the first time this type of weapon was used in a precision attack on an individual. Two years later the RX9 version of the Hellfire missile was used to kill Jamel Ahmed Mohammed Ali al-Badawi, an FBI most-wanted terrorist who was accused of orchestrating the suicide bombing of the US Navy destroyer, USS Cole, in October, 200, when it was moored in Aden. Seventeen sailors were killed. The targeted terrorist was travelling in a vehicle alone in Yemen when the ninja bomb shredded the vehicle and killed him. The six pop-up blades are deployed seconds before impact. US officials have said the design of the weapon was aimed at minimising civilian casualties. The full name of the deadly weapon is AGM-114R9X. Although few details of the weapon have been publicly revealed, it is known that both the CIA and the military’s Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) have used the RX9 to target terrorists in recent years. It is believed to have been fired in Libya and Somalia, as well as Yemen and Afghanistan.