Ayman al-Zawahiri 's first wife Azza and two of their six children , Mohammad and Aisha , were killed in an air strike 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 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 . Her son , Mohammad , was also killed outright in the same house . Her four-year-old daughter with Down syndrome , Aisha , had not been hurt by the bombing , but died from exposure in the cold night while Afghan rescuers tried to save Azza
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Ayman al-Zawahiri