President Biden said a weekend CIA drone strike killed Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, one of the masterminds of the 9/11 terrorist attack and the elusive successor to American enemy Osama Bin Laden.
The counter terrorism operation eliminated the leader who had been in charge since an American military force eleminated Bin Laden during the Obama administration.
There were no civilian casualties.
Biden outlined the offensive during a White House address he delivered Monday night while battling COVID-19 for the second time. Though his voice sounded a little scratchy, his message was firm and resolute: America will not back down
“Now justice has been delivered and this terrorist can kill no more,” Biden said. “And no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out.”
Al-Zawahiri, 71, had been a top al-Qaeda operative for decades, second only to Bin Laden, who was notoriously killed during a strike force operation in Pakistan on May 2, 2011. A famous White House photo from that date shows Biden in the room with former President Barack Obama and top aides, watching a feed of the operation.
But this time, more than 11 years later, it was Biden calling the shots, authorizing a precision strike that managed to leave alive Al-Zawahiri’s family and other potential civilian casualties.
The strike, which occurred at 9:38 p.m. ET Saturday night, is the first known U.S. attack in Afghanistan since Biden ended America’s 20-year war in that country last August.
Biden provided few specific details of the strike, but several news reports said Al-Zawahri was standing on a balcony of a “safe house” in downtown Kabul that was hit by two missiles.
“Justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more,” Biden said. “I authorized a precision strike hat would remove him from the battlefield once and for all. None of his family members were hurt. There were no civilian casualties.”
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/SOL5G2W3TZCL5EZ7B6T77PYEIY.jpg)
After officials located the safe house and patiently waited for the right moment to attack, Biden signed off on the strike following a July 25 meeting with top advisers.
Al-Zawahiri’s evil resume included serving as the leader of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the terror group responsible for the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.
Breaking News
As it happens
Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts.
The strike won Biden praise from both sides of the political aisle.
“Hats off to President Biden for this decisive action that brings final justice to a loathsome mass murderer,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. “America has taken Ayman al-Zawahiri — the ruthless leader of Al-Qaeda and a perpetrator behind the 9/11 attacks — off the battlefield. This is a major accomplishment by President Biden to bring to justice one of the world’s most wanted terrorists who helped orchestrate the cold-blooded murder of thousands of my fellow New Yorkers on 9/11.”
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a combat veteran who sits on the Armed Services Committee, hailed the announcement.
Al-Zawahri “has the blood of far too many U.S. service members and innocent civilians on his hands,” she said.
Biden said he hoped al-Zawahiri will help bring some closure to families who lost loved ones on 9/11.
“We will never forget,” Biden said. “No day shall erase you from the memory of time. It is my hope that this decisive action will bring one more measure of closure. Hear me now we will always remain vigilant and we will always act. We shall never waver from defending our nation and its people. We will never give up.”
With News Wire Services
