Khamenei to Gaddafi: 7 world leaders removed through targeted military operations & force

The killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on 1 March 2026 marks the most significant removal of a head of state via targeted military action in the 21st century.

This follows a historical pattern of world leaders whose tenures ended through external military intervention, precision strikes, or state-sponsored assassinations.

Iranian state media confirmed the death of the 86-year-old Supreme Leader following a coordinated US-Israeli operation on Sunday, 1 March 2026.

The mission, reportedly codenamed 'Operation Epic Fury,' utilised stealth aircraft and bunker-busting munitions to strike Khamenei’s heavily fortified residential compound in Tehran.

Intelligence indicates the strikes targeted a subterranean command centre where the leader was located.

Having held ultimate authority since 1989, Khamenei’s death has immediately triggered a 40-day mourning period and the activation of a transitional leadership council to prevent a total power vacuum in the Islamic Republic.

Muammar Gaddafi was killed on 20 October 2011 near his hometown of Sirte during the final stages of the Libyan Civil War.

After 42 years of rule, his attempt to flee the besieged city in a large convoy was thwarted when NATO aircraft, including a US Predator drone and French fighter jets, bombed the vehicles.

Gaddafi survived the initial blast but was discovered by National Transitional Council (NTC) rebel fighters while hiding in a roadside drainage pipe.

He was killed shortly after his capture amidst a chaotic scene documented on mobile phone footage.

The intervention, authorised by the UN and spearheaded by NATO, effectively ended the regime and the decade-long confrontation with Western powers.

Following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein was captured by US special operations forces during Operation Red Dawn on 13 December 2003.

He was found hiding in a 'spider hole' on a farm near his birthplace of Tikrit.

The operation relied on human intelligence from his inner circle to pinpoint his exact location.

After a three-year trial by the Iraqi Special Tribunal for crimes against humanity, specifically the 1982 Dujail massacre, he was executed by hanging in Baghdad on 30 December 2006.

His removal was the primary objective of the 'Coalition of the Willing,' who cited the dismantling of alleged weapons of mass destruction as the justification for the invasion.

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated on 6 October 1981 during a victory parade in Cairo.

A group of soldiers, led by Egyptian Lieutenant Khalid Islambouli, broke formation and attacked the presidential stand with grenades and assault rifles.

Sadat was targeted specifically for his role in signing the Camp David Accords, which made Egypt the first Arab nation to officially recognise Israel.

The assassination was carried out by members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad who opposed the peace treaty.

Sadat’s death highlighted the extreme risks associated with unilateral diplomacy in the Middle East and led to the long-term presidency of Hosni Mubarak.

Thomas Sankara, the revolutionary leader of Burkina Faso, was killed during a military coup on 15 October 1987 in the capital, Ouagadougou.

A hit squad led by his former close associate and deputy, Blaise Compaoré, stormed a government meeting at the presidential palace and shot Sankara and twelve other officials.

Compaoré immediately seized power and reversed Sankara’s radical nationalisation and self-sufficiency policies.

While domestic power struggles were the official cause, a 2022 military court conviction of Compaoré finally provided legal weight to long-standing claims that the assassination involved foreign interests seeking to destabilise the anti-imperialist administration.

Patrice Lumumba, the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo, was executed by firing squad on 17 January 1961 in Katanga Province.

After being deposed in a military coup led by Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, Lumumba was captured while attempting to reach his political base.

He was transferred to the breakaway state of Katanga, where local secessionist forces carried out the execution under the direct supervision of Belgian officers.

Declassified documents later confirmed that the US CIA and Belgian intelligence orchestrated his removal to prevent the mineral-rich nation from aligning with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

President Idriss Déby died on 20 April 2021 from wounds sustained while commanding troops on the front lines in Northern Chad.

Déby, a key military ally for Western powers in the fight against Sahelian insurgency, was visiting soldiers engaged with the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) rebels.

He was shot during a skirmish and evacuated to the capital, N'Djamena, where he succumbed to his injuries.

His death was unexpected and occurred just days after he won a sixth term in office.

To maintain stability, his son, Mahamat Idriss Déby, was immediately installed as head of a transitional military council, bypassing the standard constitutional line of succession.