The United States has killed the leader of Al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a drone strike in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden confirmed in a speech from the White House.
Zawahiri, who just turned 71 years old, was killed in a counter-terrorism operation carried out by the CIA in the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, on Sunday (July 31).
He had remained a perceptible international symbol of the group, was one of America's "most wanted terrorists", and conspired in the 9/11 attacks with Osama Bin Laden.
"Since the United States delivered justice to bin Laden 11 years ago, Zawahiri has been a leader of al-Qaeda," The 79-year-old president said on Monday.
"From hiding, he co-ordinated al-Qaeda's branches all around the world, including setting priorities for providing operational guidance and calling for and inspired attacks against US targets," he added.
Watch Biden's speech below:Biden said he was sheltering in Kabul, Afghanistan, to reunite with his family and was killed in what a senior administration official defined as "a precise tailored airstrike" using two Hellfire missiles.
Other family members such as his daughter and his children were present at the scene, but they were unharmed. Only Zawahiri was killed in the attack, officials added.
Biden exclaimed that Zawahiri's death will bring closure to families of the nearly 3,000 victims of the 2001 attacks.
"No matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out," Biden said, adding that "we shall never waver from defending our nation and its people".
Biden stated that Zawahiri authorized other attacks, including the 1998 attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, in which 223 people died, and the suicide bombing of the USS Cole naval destroyer in Aden in 2000 which killed 17 US sailors.
According to BBC News, a spokesman for the Taliban defined the US operation as a clear breach of international principles - but did not mention Zawahiri's death.
"Such actions are a repetition of the failed experiences of the past 20 years and are against the interests of the United States of America, Afghanistan, and the region," the spokesman added.
The strike comes one year after Biden called for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, inciting Taliban forces to quickly take control of the country.
Biden said that when he retreated US troops from the country, he "made the decision that after 20 years of war, the United States no longer needed thousands of boots on the ground in Afghanistan to protect America from terrorists who seek to do us harm."
"I made a promise to the American people, that we continue to conduct effective counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan and beyond. We've done just that," he added.
The president vowed that the deceased Al-Qaeda leader "will never again allow Afghanistan to become a terrorist safe haven because he is gone" and that he will "make sure" that nothing else happens.
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