Ayman al-Zawahiri, key plotter of 9/11 attacks, killed in US drone strike in Kabul

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<strong>President Joe Biden in a televised address on Monday (local time) announced that Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in an air strike by the United States stating that "Justice has been delivered." al-Zawahiri was one of the world's most wanted terrorists and a mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks was killed in a drone strike carried out by the US in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday.</strong></p>
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"On Saturday, at my direction, the United States successfully conducted an airstrike in Kabul, Afghanistan that killed the emir of al-Qa'ida: Ayman al-Zawahiri. Justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more," Biden said in a video address from the Blue Room Balcony at the White House. </p>
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On Saturday, at my direction, the United States successfully conducted an airstrike in Kabul, Afghanistan that killed the emir of al-Qa’ida: Ayman al-Zawahiri.<br />
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Justice has been delivered.</p>
— President Biden (@POTUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1554254893506068480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 1, 2022</a></blockquote>
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"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," he added.</p>
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Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon was deeply involved in the planning of 9/11 and he also acted as Osama Bin Ladens personal physician.</p>
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In a background call to reporters, a senior Biden administration official said Zawahiri had been killed on the balcony of a house in Kabul in a drone strike, and that there had been no US boots on the ground in Afghanistan.</p>
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The strike was conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and was carried out by an Air Force drone. The official claimed that al-Zawahiri was the only person killed in the strike and that none of his family members was injured.</p>
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Senior members of the Taliban and Haqqani Network were aware of al-Zawahiri's presence in Kabul before the drone strike, said the senior administration official.</p>
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In fact, Haqqani Network members attempted to conceal that al-Zawahiri had been staying at the safehouse in the hours after he was killed.</p>
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When asked about Al-Zawahris's killing and could he have been in the safe house without the direct knowledge of Pakistan's ISI, the official said: "What we know is that senior Haqqani Taliban were aware of his presence in Kabul and I can't comment further on other countries involvement."</p>
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Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States who is now with the Hudson Institute, said that this operation shows that the US can still find identified terrorist leaders in Afghanistan.</p>
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"The question now would be, whether Taliban enabled Zawahiri's elimination or the US did it without assistance. His presence in the Afghanistan- Pakistan area confirms that the region is still home to international terrorist groups," Haqqani told ANI.</p>
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"We will have to wait to find out whom the Americans believe to have helped keep Zawahiri in business from within the region," the former ambassador further added.</p>
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Zawahiri's killing comes a year after the US' military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban's takeover of the country. The official noted that Zawahiri's presence in the Afghan capital Kabul was a "clear violation" of a deal the Taliban had signed with the US in Doha in 2020 that paved the way for the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. (ANI)</p>