U.S. forces Sunday killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri in a drone strike at his home in Afghanistan as U.S. President Joe Biden describes the feat as “justice” for the thousands of 9/11 victims brutally killed by the top terrorist leader.
On Monday Mr.
Biden said the operation which eliminated the terrorist at his Kabul home
delivered justice and hopefully “one more measure of closure” to families of
the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, The
Associated Press reports.
US Intelligence oficials tracked al-Zawahri to Kabul home
In an
evening address from the White House the president said intelligence officials
tracked al-Zawahri to a home in downtown Kabul where he was hiding out with his
family, according to The Associated Press.
On May 2,
2011 the U.S. Navy SEALS carried out a similar operation against then al-Qaida
leader Osama bin Laden who along with al-Zawahri plotted the 9/11 attacks on
U.S. soil.
Biden will not allow Afghanistan to be a terrorist safe haven
Biden said following
the death of al-Zawahri “he will never again, never again, allow Afghanistan to
become a terrorist safe haven because he is gone and we’re going to make sure
that nothing else happens,”, according to The Associated Press.
“This
terrorist leader is no more,” he added.
Biden, who
paid tribute to the U.S. intelligence community in his remarks, thanked them
for “their extraordinary persistence and skill” which made the operation a
success.
Five people
familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity
that the strike was carried out by the CIA.
Who plotted the September 11, 2001 attacks?
On September
11, 2001 al-Zawahri and his boss Bin Laden hijacked U.S. planes and carried out
the deadliest attacks on U.S. soil.
Al-Zawahri
was Bin Laden’s deputy since 1998 and soon took over after the death of the
latter in 2011.
Who owned the house Al-Zawahri was living in Kabul?
The house he
was living at the time of his death was owned by a top aide to senior Taliban
leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, The Associated Press quoted a senior intelligence
official as saying. The official noted that a CIA ground team and aerial
reconnaissance conducted after the drone strike confirmed al-Zawahri’s death.
On Tuesday
morning, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told ABC’s “Good
Morning America” that “there was nobody on the ground in uniform when this
strike occurred,” according to The Associated Press.
Sullivan
added that the U.S. government is “in direct communication with the Taliban on
this, and I’m not going to telegraph our next moves, but the Taliban well
understand the United States is going to defend its interests.”
Was Al-Zawahri a dangerous figure?
The White
House said following al-Zawahri’s death that he continued to be a dangerous
figure. A senior administration official said al-Zawahi had continued to
“provide strategic direction,” including urging attacks on the U.S., while in
hiding, according to The Associated Press. He had also prioritized to members
of the terror network that the United States remained al-Qaida’s “primary
enemy,” the official said.
A senior administration
official who briefed reporters on the incident said the terror leader’s wife, daughter
and her children had relocated to a safe house in Kabul. The intelligence
community later learnt al-Zawahri was hiding in the safe and briefed Mr. Biden.
Taliban was aware of al-Zawahri's presence in Kabul - White House
The official
noted that senior Taliban figures were aware of al-Zawahri’s presence in Kabul
and noted that the Taliban government was given no forewarning of the
operation.
“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,” Biden said, according to The Associated Press.
Al-Zawahri who was on FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist list, had a $25 million bounty on his head for any information that could be used to kill or capture him.
In a
statement the Taliban government confirmed the attack saying it “strongly
condemns this attack and calls it a clear violation of international principles
and the Doha Agreement,” the 2020 U.S. pact with the Taliban that led to the
withdrawal of American forces.
“Such
actions are a repetition of the failed experiences of the past 20 years and are
against the interests of the United States of America, Afghanistan, and the
region,” the statement said.