The leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist network, Aiman al-Zawahiri, has been killed in a US anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan. Al-Sawahiri was killed in a targeted drone attack at a shelter in the Afghan capital Kabul over the weekend, a senior US official said on Monday evening (local time). US President Joe Biden himself commented on the strike against the terrorist group during a short-term appearance at the White House in Washington.
Egyptian Al-Zawahiri succeeded Osama bin Laden, who was thought to be the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. Bin Laden was killed by US special forces in Pakistan in 2011. Now the Americans also eliminated his successor - in Afghanistan, a year after the chaotic withdrawal of troops from the country.
Biden commented on Zawahiri's death during a speech on a balcony at government headquarters. The President is currently in isolation due to an infection with the corona virus.
The government official said the attack on al-Sawahiri had been prepared for months. He was finally killed when he stepped onto the balcony of his shelter in Kabul. There were no civilian casualties; according to US information, only Al-Sawahiri died in the attack. No US forces were in Kabul during the operation. She emphasized that according to US information, members of the Taliban leadership knew that the al-Qaeda boss was in Kabul. You would have clearly violated agreements with the United States.
Al-Zawahiri was bin Laden's deputy at the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks and took his place after his death, she said. The 71-year-old was the highest-ranking leader of al-Qaeda and continued to call for attacks against the United States, thus posing a threat. His death was a serious blow to the terrorist group.
Al-Sawahiri made his last public appearance last September - exactly 20 years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In a video message he called on his supporters to fight the states in the West and their allies in the Middle East. In previous years, there had been unconfirmed rumors of his death. His exact whereabouts were unknown.
There was also speculation about his state of health. Media reported in 2019, citing intelligence information, that Sawahiri was suffering from heart problems. His death came as a surprise. The United States had put a $25 million bounty on his head. Experts recently suspected that Al-Sawahiri was hiding in the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Almost a year ago, at the end of August 2021, the USA withdrew all troops from Afghanistan, ending international military operations in the country after almost 20 years. The Taliban had just taken power in Kabul. The international withdrawal was made more difficult by their rapid campaign of conquest and turned out to be chaotic. All in all, the American withdrawal from Afghanistan met with a great deal of criticism and incomprehension internationally. Biden, who was under pressure because of the debacle, had pledged at the time not to give up the fight against terrorism in the region.
