Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. United States President Joe Biden on Monday announced the killing of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan.
In a speech from the White House, Biden said he had “authorized a precision strike that would remove him from the battlefield, once and for all.”
Zawahiri, who just turned 71 years old, had remained a visible international symbol of the group, 11 years after the US killed Osama bin Laden.
The terrorist was hiding in downtown Kabul to reunite with his family and was killed in a “precise tailored airstrike” using two Hellfire missiles, according to senior U.S. government officials.
The drone strike was conducted at 9:48 PM ET on Saturday and was authorized by Biden following weeks of meetings with his Cabinet and key advisers, reported CNN.
No American personnel were on the ground in Kabul at the time of the strike.
A U.S. official said senior Haqqani Taliban figures were aware of Zawahiri’s presence in the area in “clear violation of the Doha agreement.”
The official added that the Taliban even took steps to conceal his presence after Saturday’s successful strike and restricted access to the safe house.
The US did not alert Taliban officials ahead of Saturday’s strike.
In a series of tweets, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid condemned the strike saying it was “a clear violation of international principles and the Doha Agreement.”
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