The United States killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike on July 31, 2022, President Joe Biden said in a speech on Monday, August 1, 2022, from the White House.
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Zawahiri was sheltering in downtown Kabul to reunite with his family, Biden said, and was killed in what a senior administration official described as “a precise tailored airstrike” using two Hellfire missiles.
The drone strike, conducted at 9:48 p.m. ET on Saturday was authorized by Biden following weeks of meetings with his Cabinet and key advisers, the official said on Monday, adding that no American personnel were on the ground in Kabul at the time of the strike.
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Mr Biden said al-Zawahiri had “carved a trail of murder and violence against American citizens”.
“From hiding, he co-ordinated al-Qaeda’s branches and all around the world, including setting priorities for providing operational guidance and calling for and inspired attacks against US targets,” the president said in a live television address from the White House.
“Now justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more,” he added.
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