US, AFGHANISTAN: Al-Qaeda head Ayman al-Zawahiri has been killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan’s Kabul, US President Joe Biden said in his latest address, calling it a moment of justice for families of 2,977 people killed in September 11, 2001 terror attack. Speculation is rife that the United States may have used Hellfire R9X, a warhead-less missile, which is used in finely targeted attacks. Al-Zawahri - born in a prominent Egyptian family - worked as an eye surgeon as a young adult and gradually rose to top of the terror outfit. He was Osama Bin Laden’s successor. An Egyptian national, Ayman al-Zawahiri was born on June 19, 1951, in Giza in the African nation. In June 2011, he was announced as Al-Qaeda’s second ‘General Emir’, following the killing of his predecessor, Osama bin Laden, in a US raid in Pakistan’s Abbottabad in May that year.
The 71-year-old Ayman al-Zawahiri was a surgeon and served in the Egyptian Army for three years.
In the wake of 9/11, the US State Department announced a reward of up to US$25 million for information leading to capture of al-Zawahiri, who, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), had a whole host of aliases.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden confirmed that a US drone strike in Afghanistan over the weekend killed Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, declaring “justice has been delivered”.
The precision strike was carried out on Saturday and “no civilians were hurt” in the operation.
Meanwhile, the Taliban has condemned the killing of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri by the United States in a “precision” drone strike in the centre of Kabul.
In a statement on Tuesday, the group called the strike a “clear violation” of international principles and the Doha Agreement, the 2020 pact signed by the Taliban and the US that facilitated the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan.
The strike was carried out on a residential house in the Sherpur area of Kabul, a diplomatic enclave where many Taliban leaders live now, Taliban chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said in the statement.
- THE HINDUSTAN TIMES
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