Ayman al-Zawahiri, leader of Al Qaeda and mastermind behind the planning of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, died in a drone attack on Saturday at his residence on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, on orders of the president of the United States.
President Joe Biden confirmed this Monday that Osama bin Laden's successor at the head of Al Qaeda was annihilated in a drone attack. “Justice has been done,” the president announced.
Biden shared details of the operation in a speech at the White House and said that after carefully considering the clear and convincing evidence of Zawahiri's location, he authorized the “precision strike” that ended his life.
"He has left a trail of murder and violence against American citizens, American service members, American diplomats and American interests. And since the United States brought bin Laden to justice 11 years ago, Zawahiri has been a leader of Al Qaeda, the leader who, from underground, coordinated al Qaeda branches around the world, including setting priorities to provide operational guidance that called for and inspired attacks against American targets," Biden said.
"This mission was carefully planned, the risk of harm to other civilians was rigorously minimized, and a week ago, after being informed that conditions were optimal, I gave final approval to go find him, and the mission was a success," declared the American president.
He added that no member of Zawahiri's family had been injured and that no civilians were injured in the operation to kill what was considered the most wanted terrorist in the world. The FBI was offering a $25 million reward for information leading to his capture.
The attack followed months of planning in which the president and a tight circle of his top advisers built a small mock-up of the Zawahiri safe house for Biden to examine as he considered options for the military operation.
The physical elimination of Zawahiri is the first known counterterrorism attack by US forces since their official withdrawal from Afghanistan. in August 2021.
The US intelligence services had identified Zawahiri's whereabouts last April and since then they analyzed the behavior of the area, the periods in which the terrorist leader entered and left the balcony of the house and inspected the structure of the house to conduct the investigation. operation with the minimum possible risk to civilians.
According to a newspaper report The Washington Post, Americans knew him as the number 2 leader of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden's assistant, but, in reality, he was the mastermind of the most internationally known terrorist movement.
Zawahiri, 71, a doctor of Egyptian origin, became the intellectual force behind many of Al Qaeda's dark plans, including its apparently unsuccessful efforts to acquire nuclear and biological weapons, the publication said.
He was also held responsible for the attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
In his final years, Zawahiri led Al Qaeda at a time of decline, with most of the group's founding figures dead or in hiding and with the organization's leadership role challenged by aggressive upstarts such as the Islamic State.
Eleven years after the United States killed the main leader of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, Zawahiri was the main figure of the terrorist group.
In his speech at the White House, Biden warned Al Qaeda and others terrorist movements that the United States will always do what is necessary to ensure the safety of its citizens.
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