US kills al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul drone strike
- US President Joe Biden hailed US operation that killed al-Qaeda leader in Afghanistan capital as delivering ‘justice’
- Ayman al-Zawahiri and his better known predecessor Osama bin Laden plotted the September 11, 2001 attacks
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Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri killed in US drone strike on house in Afghan capital Kabul
US President Joe Biden announced that the United States had killed al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, one of the world’s most wanted terrorists and a mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks, in a drone strike in Kabul.
In a sombre televised address on Monday, Biden said he gave the final go-ahead for the high-precision strike that successfully targeted Zawahiri in the Afghan capital over the weekend.
“Justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more,” Biden said, adding that he hoped Zawahiri’s death would bring “closure” to families of the 3,000 people killed in the United States on September 11.
A senior administration official said Zawahiri was on the balcony of a house in Kabul when he was targeted with two Hellfire missiles, an hour after sunrise on July 31, and that there had been no US boots on the ground in Afghanistan.
“We are not aware of him ever leaving the safe house. We identified Zawahiri on multiple occasions for sustained periods of time on the balcony of where he was ultimately struck,” the official said.
According to the official’s account, the president gave his green light for the strike on July 25 – as he was recovering in isolation from Covid-19. Biden said there were no civilian casualties in the operation.