The American will to bring global rulers to trial

The US has conducted several operations to lasso in powerful leaders around the world. Here is a gallery of those captured or killed by US actions, that altered their nations and global power dynamics

Mar 06, 2026, 11:45 IST4 min

1/14

2026 - Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Cleric and Supreme Leader, Iran
On February 28, in a sudden lethal intervention by US and Israel, a dozen members of Khamenei’s family and close entourage were killed in near-simultaneous strikes within 60 seconds, a culmination of decades of painstaking intelligence gathering by Israeli secret services. As the ideological head of the ‘Axis of Resistance’, Khamenei created alliances with armed groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Palestine, fanning controversial nuclear and missile programmes, aiming to destroy enemies America and Israel, while suppressing brutally the protests across Iran for greater political and social freedoms, in a country reeling under social sanctions.
Photo by khamenei.ir / AFP

2/14

2026 - Nicolás Maduro, President, Venezuela
Exposing themselves to an extraordinary level of risk, US helicopters descended into a heavily fortified compound in Fort Tiuna during the wee hours of the morning on January 3 to extract Maduro and his wife as they lay asleep. They were taken to the US where Maduro has been indicted by the US on charges of narco-terrorism, cocaine trafficking and possession of destructive devices against the US to face charges.
Photo by Eduardo Munoz / Reuters

3/14

2022 - Ayman al Zawahiri, al-Qaeda leader
Zawahiri, who helped plan the 9/11 attacks, was among America's most wanted men. He was killed by a United States drone missile strike on the house he was hiding in in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Photo by HO / SITE Intelligence Group / AFP

4/14

2020 - Qassem Soleimani, Commander, Quds Force, Iran
The commander, who helped direct wars in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, was assassinated by a targeted drone strike while he was leaving Baghdad airport in a car.
Photo by khamenei.ir / AFP

5/14

2019 - Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Leader, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria
Arguably the world's most wanted man, Baghdadi detonated his suicide vest after fleeing into a tunnel, chased by US military dogs in a US special operations raid in northwestern Syria.
Photo by AFP

6/14

2011 – Muammar Gaddafi, leader, Libya
During Libya's civil war that erupted following the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, the United States and allies intervened, carrying out a series of airstrikes and drone strikes. Gaddafi was captured and brutally killed by rebel forces.
Photo by Ismail Zitouny / Reuters

7/14

2011 – Anwar Al-Awlaki, Islamic cleric and al-Qaeda leader
“The main man who translated jihad into English”, according to a follower, the US-born Awlaki was linked to multiple terrorism plots. On September 30, 2011, the CIA used two Hellfire drones to target Awlaki in Yemen, killing him.
Photo by Tracy Woodward/The Washington Post via Getty Images

8/14

2011 – Osama bin Laden, founder, al-Qaeda
The mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, attacks that killed thousands of Americans, bin Laden formulated an agenda of violent struggle, declaring a holy war against the United States, aiming to overthrow the existing world order and establish a single Islamic state. On May 2, 2011, a small US force transported by helicopters raided a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where Laden was hiding, and killed him, ending a decade-long manhunt.
Photo by Jewel Samad / AFP

9/14

2006 - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi: Leader, al-Qaeda, Iraq
Regarded as one of the most destructive militants introducing beheadings and massive suicide bombings to the Iraqi insurgency, Jordanian-born Zarqawi was killed along with seven aides in a coalition bombing of his safehouse 50 km northeast of Baghdad.
Photo by Ceerwan Aziz / Reuters

10/14

2003 - Saddam Hussein, President, Iraq
Ruling Iraq with an iron fist for almost 30 years, Hussein used fear, intimidation and violence like few other dictators, while projecting an image of himself as a courageous moderniser. In 2003, coalition forces intervened, invading Iraq and helping rebel forces overthrow Hussein. He was executed in 2006 by order of an Iraqi court.
Photos by Ramzi Haidar / AFP (left); HO / AFP