A CIA drone airstrike has killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden announced at a White House news conference on Monday.
The operation took place on Saturday at 9:48 pm in Kabul where al-Zawahiri was taking refuge with his family, who were unharmed in the attack, Biden said.
"Justice has been done and this terrorist leader is no more. People around the world do not have to fear," added the president from the balcony of the Blue Room where he is isolated after continuing to test positive for COVID-19.
Al Qaeda's Ayman al-Zawahri speaks in Islamabad, Pakistan, on June 20, 2006, seen on a screen playing a DVD prepared by Al-Sahab production.AP
Officials and former officials began to hear Sunday afternoon that al-Zawahiri had been killed in a drone strike, but the administration delayed releasing the information until his death could be confirmed, according to a person speaking on condition of anonymity. anonymity for The Associated Press news agency.
The National Security Council of the United States had knowledge of the location of the Al Qaeda leader since April of this year and monitored his stay in the location where he was attacked on the orders of Biden.
He was hit when he was on a balcony.
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President Joe Biden speaks from the balcony of the Blue Room of the White House on Monday, August 1, 2022, in Washington, as he announces that a US airstrike has killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri in Afghanistan.
AP
"We are making it clear once again that no matter how long it takes if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and eliminate you," the president added.
The loss of al-Zawahiri removes the figure who, more than anyone else, shaped Al Qaeda,
first as Osama bin Laden's deputy since 1998 and later as his successor.
Together, he and bin Laden turned the jihadist movement's weapons on the United States, carrying out the deadliest attack ever perpetrated on American soil: the suicide hijackings of September 11, 2001.
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The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon made Bin Laden America's number one enemy.
But it is likely that he would never have been able to pull it off without his assistant.
Bin Laden brought al Qaeda charisma and money, but al-Zawahiri brought the tactics and organizational skills necessary to forge militants into a network of cells in countries around the world.
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Their bond was forged in the late 1980s, when al-Zawahiri allegedly treated Saudi millionaire bin Laden to the caves of Afghanistan as Soviet bombing rattled the mountains around them.
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In a speech on August 31, 2021, after the last US troops left Afghanistan, Biden said the United States would not give up its fight against terrorism in that country or anywhere else.
"We will continue the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan and in other countries," he assured.
"Only we don't need to fight a ground war to do it."
Predicting the attack that would come 11 months later, Biden said then: "We have what is called an over-the-horizon capability, which means we can attack terrorists and targets with little or no US troops on the ground, if required".
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For several years there has been speculation about al-Zawahiri's death.
But in April, a video surfaced in which the al Qaeda leader praised an Indian Muslim woman who had defied a ban on wearing her hijab, or headscarf.
That recording was the first proof in months that he was still alive.
A statement from the Afghan Taliban government confirmed the airstrike but did not mention al-Zawahiri or any other casualties.
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He stated that he "strongly condemns this attack and calls it a clear violation of international principles and the Doha Agreement", the 2020 pact between the US and the Taliban that led to the withdrawal of US forces.
"These actions are a repetition of the failed experiences of the last 20 years and go against the interests of the United States of America, Afghanistan and the region," the statement said.
With information from
The Associated Press