The United States killed Al-Qaeda Emir Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike, President Joe Biden said Monday in a speech from the White House.
“Since the United States delivered justice to bin Laden 11 years ago, Zawahiri has been a leader of al Qaeda,” Mr Biden said. “From hiding, he co-ordinates al Qaeda’s branches and all around the world, including setting priorities for providing operational guidance and calling for and inspiring attacks against US targets.”Now justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more,” Mr, Biden added.
Zawahiri, who just turned 71 years old, had remained a visible international symbol of the group, 11 years after the US killed Osama bin Laden. At one point, he acted as Bin Laden’s personal physician, Zawahiri was sheltering in downtown Kabul to reunite with his family, Biden said, and was killed in what a senior administration official described as “a precisely tailored airstrike” using two Hellfire missiles.
An US Official said that, The drone strike was conducted at 9:48 p.m. ET on Saturday and was authorized by Biden following weeks of meetings with his Cabinet and key advisers, the official said on Monday, adding that no American personnel were on the ground in Kabul at the time of the strike. Senior Haqqani Taliban figures were aware of Zawahiri’s presence in the area which is the “clear violation of the Doha agreement,” and even took steps to conceal his presence after Saturday’s successful strike, restricting access to the safe house and rapidly relocating members of his family, including his daughter and her children, who were intentionally not targeted during the strike and remained unharmed. The US did not alert Taliban officials ahead of Saturday’s strike, he added.
In a series of tweets, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said, “An airstrike was carried out on a residential house in Sherpur area of Kabul city on July 31.
“He said, “The nature of the incident was not apparent at first” but the security and intelligence services of the Islamic Emirate investigated the incident and “initial findings determined that the strike was carried out by an American drone.”
The tweets by Mujahid came out prior to CNN reporting Zawahiri’s death. Mujahid said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan “strongly condemns this attack on any pretext and calls it a clear violation of international principles and the Doha Agreement.”
Mr. Biden said, ” Zawahiri was deeply involved in the planning of 9/11, one of the most responsible for the attacks that murdered 2,977 people on American soil. For decades, he was the mastermind of attacks against Americans.”
“Now, justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more. People around the world no longer need to fear the vicious and determined killer,” he continued. “The United States continues to demonstrate our resolve and our capacity to defend the American people against those who seek to do us harm. We make it clear again tonight, that no matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out.”, He added
The US President said the precision strike targeting was the result of the “extraordinary persistence and skill” of the nation’s intelligence community, our intelligence community located Zawahiri earlier this year, he moved to downtown Kabul to reunite with members of his immediate family.
