The US government has yet to confirm his death. President Joe Biden will speak at 7:30 p.m. ET for “a successful counterterrorism operation” against al Qaeda in Afghanistan, the White House announced Monday. “Over the weekend, the United States conducted a counterterrorism operation against a major al-Qaeda target in Afghanistan. The operation was successful and there were no civilian casualties,” a senior government official said. Biden, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday as he battles a rebound case of the virus, will speak outdoors from the Blue Room Balcony at the White House. The US State Department had offered a reward of up to $25 million for information leading directly to Zawahiri’s arrest. A United Nations report in June 2021 indicated that it was located somewhere in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region and that it may also be a weakling shown in propaganda. Zawahiri comes from a distinguished Egyptian family, according to the New York Times. His grandfather, Rabia’a al-Zawahiri, was an imam at al-Azhar University in Cairo. His forefather, Abdel Rahman Azzam, was the first secretary of the Arab League. He helped mastermind the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil, when hijackers turned American airliners into missiles. “These 19 brothers who came out and gave their souls to Almighty Allah, Almighty God granted them this victory that we are enjoying now,” al-Zawahiri said in a taped message released in April 2002. It was the first of many taunting messages the terrorist — who became al Qaeda’s leader after bin Laden was killed in 2011 by US forces — would send, urging militants to continue the fight against America and criticizing the US leaders. Zawahiri was constantly on the move when the US-led invasion of Afghanistan began after the attacks of September 11, 2001. At one point, he narrowly escaped an American attack in Afghanistan’s rugged, mountainous Tora Bora region, an attack that left dead his wife and children. He made his public debut as a Muslim militant while in prison for his role in the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. “We want to speak to the whole world. Who are we? Who are we?” he said in a prison interview. At the time, al-Zawahiri, a young doctor, was already a committed terrorist who had been plotting to overthrow the Egyptian government for years and sought to replace it with fundamentalist Islamic rule. He proudly advocated the assassination of Sadat after the Egyptian leader made peace with Israel. He spent three years in prison after Sadat’s assassination and claimed he was tortured while in custody. After his release, he went to Pakistan, where he treated wounded mujahadeen fighters who fought against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. It was then that he met bin Laden and found a common cause. “We work with brother bin Laden,” he said announcing the merger of his terrorist group, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, with al-Qaeda in May 1998. “We’ve known him for more than 10 years. We fought with him here in Afghanistan.” Together, the two terrorist leaders signed a fatwa, or declaration: “The decision to kill and fight Americans and their allies, whether civilian or military, is an obligation on every Muslim.” Attacks against the United States and its facilities began weeks later, with the suicide bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 200 people and injured more than 5,000 others. Zawahiri and Bin Laden saluted after escaping a US cruise missile attack on Afghanistan that had been launched in retaliation. Then there was the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in October 2000, when suicide bombers on a dinghy blew up their boat, killing 17 American sailors and injuring 39 others. The climax of Zawahiri’s terror plan came on September 11, 2001, when nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A fourth hijacked plane, headed for Washington, D.C., crashed in a Pennsylvania field after passengers fought back. Since then, al-Zawahiri has raised his public profile, appearing in numerous videos and audio tapes to urge Muslims to join the jihad against the United States and its allies. Some of his tapes were closely followed by terrorist attacks. In May 2003, for example, near-simultaneous suicide bombings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killed 23 people, including nine Americans, days after a tape believed to contain Zawahiri’s voice was released. This is a spastic story and will be updated.
title: “Us Kills Al Qaeda Leader Ayman Al Zawahiri In Drone Strike In Afghanistan " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-19” author: “Vincent Henry”
Zawahiri was in a shelter in central Kabul to be reunited with his family, Biden said, and was killed in what a senior administration official described as “a precision-tailored airstrike” using two Hellfire missiles. The drone strike was conducted at 9:48 p.m. ET on Saturday and was approved by Biden after weeks of meetings with his cabinet and key advisers, the official said Monday, adding that no US personnel were on the ground in Kabul at the time of the strike. Senior Haqqani Taliban officials were aware of Zawahiri’s presence in the area, the official said, in “clear violation of the Doha agreement,” and even took steps to conceal his presence after Saturday’s successful attack, limiting access to the safe home and rapid relocation of his family members, including his daughter and her children, who were deliberately not targeted during the strike and remained unharmed. The US did not notify Taliban officials before Saturday’s strike. In a series of tweets, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said: “On July 31, an airstrike was carried out on a residential building in the Sherpur district of Kabul city.” He said, “the nature of the incident was not apparent at first,” but the Islamic Emirate’s security and intelligence services investigated the incident and “initial findings established that the strike was carried out by a US drone.” Mujahid’s tweets were released before CNN reported Zawahiri’s death. Mujahid said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan “strongly condemns this attack under any pretext and calls it a clear violation of international principles and the Doha Agreement.”
“Justice has been served”
Biden, who was aware of the strike against Zawahiri as he was self-isolating with a recovering case of Covid-19, spoke outdoors on Monday from the White House’s Blue Room Balcony. Zawahiri, Biden said, “was deeply involved in the planning of 9/11, one of the most responsible for the attacks that killed 2,977 people on American soil. For decades, he masterminded attacks against Americans.” “Now, justice has been served and this terrorist leader is no more. People around the world no longer need to fear this vicious and determined killer,” he continued. “The United States continues to demonstrate our resolve and our ability to defend the American people against those who seek to harm us. We make it clear again tonight that no matter how long it takes, no matter where you are hiding, if you are a threat to the our people, the United States will find you and get you out.” The President said the precision strike targeting was the result of the “extraordinary tenacity and skill” of the nation’s intelligence community. “Our intelligence community located Zawahiri earlier this year — he moved to downtown Kabul to reunite with members of his immediate family,” Biden said. The strike comes a year after Biden ordered the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, prompting Taliban forces to quickly take control of the nation. Biden said on Monday that when he withdrew US troops from the country, he “made the decision that after 20 years of war, the United States no longer needs thousands of boots on the ground in Afghanistan to protect America from terrorists who want to ». damage, and I promised the American people, that we continue to conduct effective counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan and beyond. We did just that.” Biden pledged that Zawahiri would “never again allow Afghanistan to become a safe haven for terrorists, because he’s gone and we’re going to make sure nothing else happens.” The President concluded by expressing his gratitude to the US intelligence and counterterrorism communities, saying he hoped Zawahiri’s death would bring some closure to the friends and families of the victims of 9/11. “To those who continue to seek to harm the United States, hear me now: We will always remain vigilant and act — and we will always do whatever is necessary to ensure the safety and security of Americans at home and across the world,” he concluded.
Embarrassment for the Taliban
A senior counterterrorism analyst told CNN that it would be impossible for Zawahiri to be in Kabul without the invitation and consent of at least a small number of Taliban, either from the Haqqani network or another part of the group. The analyst said the strike was embarrassing for the Taliban, who had claimed there were no foreign fighters in Afghanistan and no al-Qaeda. He added that recent statements by Zawahiri suggest that the al-Qaeda leader is feeling more relaxed. The statements referred to more recent events, the analyst said, adding that this potentially revealed a complacency that may have led to the successful strike. Now the question is who will be Zawahiri’s successor. Al Qaeda’s current No. 2, Saif al-Adel, is believed to be in Iran, according to United Nations reports. The analyst said this raised an urgent issue for Iranians who now have to choose between expelling the new al Qaeda leader or harboring him. A former Afghan government official with a close understanding of counterterrorism said he had heard that al-Adel had already left Iran for Afghanistan.
Close ally of Bin Laden
Zawahiri comes from a distinguished Egyptian family, according to the New York Times. His grandfather, Rabia’a al-Zawahiri, was an imam at al-Azhar University in Cairo. His forefather, Abdel Rahman Azzam, was the first secretary of the Arab League. He eventually helped mastermind the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil, when hijackers turned American airliners into missiles. “These 19 brothers who came out and gave their souls to Almighty Allah, Almighty God granted them this victory that we are enjoying now,” al-Zawahiri said in a taped message released in April 2002. It was the first of many taunting messages the terrorist — who became al Qaeda’s leader after bin Laden was killed in 2011 by US forces — would send, urging militants to continue the fight against America and criticizing the US leaders. Zawahiri was constantly on the move when the US-led invasion of Afghanistan began after the attacks of September 11, 2001. At one point, he narrowly escaped an American attack in Afghanistan’s rugged, mountainous Tora Bora region, an attack that left dead his wife and children. He made his public debut as a Muslim militant while in prison for his role in the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. “We want to speak to the whole world. Who are we? Who are we?” he said in a prison interview. At the time, al-Zawahiri, a young doctor, was already a committed terrorist who had been plotting to overthrow the Egyptian government for years and sought to replace it with fundamentalist Islamic rule. He proudly advocated the assassination of Sadat after the Egyptian leader made peace with Israel. He spent three years in prison after Sadat’s assassination and claimed he was tortured while in custody. After his release, he went to Pakistan, where he treated wounded mujahadeen fighters who fought against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. It was then that he met bin Laden and found a common cause. “We work with brother bin Laden,” he said announcing the merger of his terrorist group, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, with al-Qaeda in May 1998. “We’ve known him for more than 10 years. We fought with him here in Afghanistan.” Together, the two terrorist leaders signed a fatwa, or declaration: “The decision to kill and fight Americans and their allies, whether civilian or military, is an obligation on every Muslim.”
9/11 Mastermind
Attacks against the US and its facilities began weeks later, with the suicide bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 200 people and injured more than 5,000 others. Zawahiri and Bin Laden saluted after escaping a US cruise missile attack on Afghanistan that had been launched in retaliation. Then there was the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in October 2000, when suicide bombers on a dinghy blew up their boat, killing 17 American sailors and injuring 39 others. The climax of Zawahiri’s terror plan came on September 11, 2001, when nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A fourth hijacked plane, headed for Washington, D.C., crashed in a Pennsylvania field after passengers fought back. Since then, al-Zawahiri has raised his public profile, appearing in numerous videos and audio tapes to urge Muslims to join the jihad against the United States and its allies. Some of his tapes were closely followed by terrorist attacks. In May 2003, for example, near-simultaneous suicide bombings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killed 23 people, including nine Americans, days after a tape believed to contain Zawahiri’s voice was released. The US State Department had offered a reward of up to $25 million for information leading to his arrest. A United Nations report in June 2021 suggested it was somewhere in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region and may have been too weak to appear in propaganda.
9/11 family group expresses gratitude, but calls on Biden to hold Saudis accountable
Terry Strada, the president of 9/11 Families United — a coalition of survivors and families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — expressed gratitude for the strike but called on the President to hold the Saudi government accountable for alleged government complicity in the attacks. The group criticized the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour, which kicked off its third competition at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in late July — about 50 miles from Ground Zero in Manhattan. “I am deeply grateful for the commitment of the intelligence services and the dedication and sacrifices of our brave military…
