Al-Qaeda Chief Ayman al-Zawahiri killed in US Airstrike in Afghanistan

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed by a US airstrike in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul as announced by US President Joe Biden today.

Zawahiri was one of the world’s most wanted terrorists and a mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks. He was an Egyptian surgeon and had a $25 million bounty on his head.

“Now justice has been delivered, and this terrorist leader is no more. 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.” Joe Biden said in remarks from the White House.

Zawahiri was killed on the balcony of a “safe house” in Kabul that he shared with other members of his family. No other casualties occurred.

Through multiple intelligence streams, US intelligence determined with “high confidence” that the man killed was Zawahiri, one senior administration official told reporters.

“Zawahiri continued to pose an active threat to US persons, interests, and national security. His death deals a significant blow to al Qaeda and will degrade the group’s ability to operate.” the official said on a conference call. 

US President Joe Biden said in a tweet, “I made a promise to the American people that we’d continue to conduct effective counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan and beyond.
We have done that.”

Stay tuned for more updates.