Ayman al-Zawahiri, a terror leader who succeeded Osama bin Laden as the head of al-Qaeda after his death in May 2011, was killed by a US drone attack in Afghanistan.
In confirming the report, US President Joe Biden said that the death of Osama Bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was a devastating blow to the Al Qaeda terrorist network, which was responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States (US).
Al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon with a $25 million bounty on his head, is thought to be one of the deadliest terrorists in the world. He is responsible for helping to plan the 9/11 attacks, in which four civilian aircraft were hijacked and used to crash the World Trade Center twin towers in New York, the Pentagon outside of Washington, D.C., and a field in Pennsylvania, killing about 3,000 people.
White Home sources claim that after moving into a safe house in the heart of Kabul with his family, Al-Zawahiri was frequently sighted on a balcony where he continued to make al-Qaeda propaganda tapes until his demise.
At a meeting of important cabinet members and national security officials on July 25, President Biden is alleged to have given the order to bomb the safe house after making sure that every precaution had been taken to ensure the operation would minimize risk and casualties.
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“Two Hellfire missiles were fired at Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was killed. We are confident through our intelligence sources and methods, including multiple streams of intelligence, that we killed al-Zawahiri and no other individual,” a Whitehouse official noted.
The official explained that though, Al-Zawahiri’s family members were present in the safe house during the strike, but they were not targeted nor harmed.
“We have no indications that civilians were harmed in the strike. We took every possible precaution to avoid civilian harm,” the official further noted.
Former President Barack Obama, on Monday night, in his reaction to the development said: “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. We will never forget. We continue to mourn every innocent life that was stolen on 9/11 and honor their memories.”
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