The US military killed the head of the al-Qaeda terrorist network, Aiman ??al-Zawahiri, in a drone attack in Afghanistan over the weekend. Corresponding media reports are now being confirmed by the US government.
The US has killed the head of the al-Qaeda terrorist network, Aiman ??al-Zawahiri, in a drone attack in Afghanistan. “This terrorist leader is no longer alive,” US President Biden said in a televised address. A US government representative had previously announced a successful operation against the terrorist network al-Qaeda without giving details. “The operation was successful and there were no civilian casualties,” it said. Even before the US President’s confirmation, several US media such as the “New York Times” and the broadcaster CNN reported that the target was al-Zawahiri.
The Egyptian had taken over the leadership of al-Qaeda after the death of Osama bin Laden, who was killed by US special forces in Pakistan in 2011. Al-Sawahiri is considered a key figure behind the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States that killed around 3,000 people. The United States put a $25 million bounty on his head.
The radical Islamic Taliban have meanwhile accused the United States of a drone attack on a residential area in Kabul. A house was shot at there on Sunday, said the spokesman for the extremists, Sabihullah Mutschahid. The Taliban unequivocally condemned the attack as a breach of international principles and the treaty to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan. The Taliban took control of Afghanistan last summer. The USA and its allies left the country after years of military action. The Taliban government is not recognized internationally.
