Guwahati: US President Joe Biden on Monday confirmed that Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed during an air strike carried out by the United States on Saturday.
The United States successfully completed an air strike in Kabul, Afganistan, on Saturday to kill the Al Qaeda leader ‘Ayman al-Zawahiri’, Biden declared at a press conference.
Biden added, “No matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the US will find you and take you out” after declaring that justice has been served.
Biden stated,”Zwahiri carved a trail of murder and violence against American citizens, American service members, American diplomats, and American interests. He was Bin Laden’s leader, his number two man, and his deputy during the time of terrorist attacks on 9/11. He was deeply involved in the planning of 9/11.
“When I ended our military mission in Afghanistan almost a year ago, I made a decision that after 20 years of war, the United States no longer needed thousands of boots on the ground in Afghanistan to protect America from terrorists who seek to do us harm,” Biden said, adding “I made a promise to the American people that we would continue to conduct effective counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan and beyond. We’ve done just that.”
As per reports, Zawahiri was killed in Afghanistan in a drone strike, after the strike which, Zabiullah the Taliban’s spokesman said, “An air strike was crried out on a residential house in Sherpur area of Kabul city on July 31.”
He added that, “The security and the intelligence agencies of the Islamic Emirate looked into the matter as it was not apparent at first” but “initial findings determined that the strike was carried out by an American drone.”
“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”, Mujahid said.
Moreover, a reward of upto $25 million was offered by the US state department for leading the information directly to Zawahiri.
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.”
Notably, the US State Department had offered a reward of up to $25 million for information leading directly to Zawahiri’s capture.