Ayman al-Zawahiri was born in 1951 in the neighborhood of Giza, in the then Kingdom of Egypt, to Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri and Umayma Azzam. Ayman al-Zawahiri was reportedly a studious youth. He excelled in school, loved poetry, and hated violent sports, which he thought were inhumane.

Al-Zawahiri studied medicine at Cairo University and graduated in 1974 with gayyid giddan, or roughly on par with a grade of “B” in the American grading system. There is so much to discuss on Ayman, however for the purpose of this article, let’s look at one of his wives – Azza Ahmed.

Who was Ayman al-Zawahiri’s wife Azza Ahmed?

Azza Ahmed was the first wife of Ayman tal-Zawahiri. Azza studied philosophy at Cairo University. Al-Zawahiri and his wife, Azza, earlier had four daughters, Fatima, Umayma, Nabila, and Khadiga, and a son, Mohammed, and Khadiga.

In 1997, that was ten years after the birth of Mohammed, Azza gave birth to their fifth daughter, Aisha, who had Down syndrome.

How did Azza Ahmed die?

Azza and two of her children, Mohammad and Aisha, were killed in an airstrike on Afghanistan by US forces in late December 2001, following the September 11 attacks on the U.S.

After an American aerial bombardment of a Taliban-controlled building at Gardez, Azza was pinned under the debris of a guesthouse roof. Concerned for her modesty, she refused to be excavated because men would see her face and she died from her injuries the following day.