Ayman al-Zawahiri, the head of Al Qaeda, was killed by a CIA drone attack in Afghanistan over the weekend, according to U.S. authorities on Monday. This is the worst setback for the extremist organization since the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011.
Zawahiri, an Egyptian physician with a US$25 million reward on his head, assisted in planning the attacks on September 11, 2001, which resulted in the deaths of close to 3,000 people. On Sunday, the CIA carried out a drone hit in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, according to a U.S. official who spoke on the record under the condition of anonymity.
A senior administration official told reporters, “Over the weekend, the United States conducted a counterterrorism operation on a key al Qaeda target in Afghanistan.” The officer continued, “The operation was successful and there were no civilian deaths.”
Since the departure of American soldiers and diplomats from Afghanistan in August 2021, the drone assault is the first known American strike inside the country. The action might increase confidence in Washington’s claims that the US can still confront Afghan challenges without a military presence there.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Taliban, stated that an attack had occurred and vehemently denounced it as a breach of “international standards.”
Before the attack, nobody knew where Zawahiri was; he was alternatively said to be in Afghanistan or the tribal region of Pakistan.