Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was taken out today in a U.S. military operation. Joe Biden made the announcement and hailed the operation in an evening address.
According to Biden, U.S. intelligence officials tracked al-Zawahiri to a home in downtown Kabul where he was hiding out with his family.
Al-Zawahiri was reportedly killed with two Hellfire missiles on the balcony of the safe house where he and his family had been living since last year.
Biden had approved the operation last week and it was carried out Sunday. Al-Zawahiri was part of the plot to carry out the 9/11 terrorist attacks along with Osama bin Laden.
“He will never again, never again, allow Afghanistan to become a terrorist safe haven because he is gone and we’re going to make sure that nothing else happens,” Biden declared in the speech.
According to five people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the strike was carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency, although Biden didn’t mention their involvement in his address.
The Associated Press reported that al-Zawahiri brought tactics and organizational skills needed to forge militants into a network of cells in countries around the world.
Biden said of the move, “We make it clear again tonight: That 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.”
On the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist list, Zawahiri had a $25 million bounty on his head for any information that could be used to kill or capture him.
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