Ayman al-Zawahiri: Al-Qaeda leader killed in US drone strike
The US has killed the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a drone strike in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden has confirmed.
He was killed in a counter-terrorism operation carried out by the CIA in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Sunday.
Mr Biden said Zawahiri had “carved a trail of murder and violence against American citizens”.
“Now justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more,” he added.
Officials said Zawahiri was on the balcony of a safe house when the drone fired two missiles at him.
Other family members were present, but they were unharmed and only Zawahiri was killed, they added.
Mr Biden said he had given the final approval for the “precision strike” on the 71-year-old al-Qaeda leader.
Zawahiri took over al-Qaeda after the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011. He and Bin Laden plotted the 9/11 attacks together and he was one of the US’s “most wanted terrorists”.
The killing of the al-Qaeda leader would bring closure to families of the victims of the 2001 attacks, Mr Biden said.
