WASHINGTON (Fwrd Axis) — President Joe Biden announced Monday a U.S. counterterrorism operation killed the top leader of Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, one of the men behind the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Speaking from the balcony of the Blue Room in a rare evening White House address, Biden described al-Zawahiri as a “mastermind” of the 9/11 attacks and vowed to protect American from threats both foreign and domestic.
“I authorized the precision strike that would remove him from the battlefield once and for all,” he said.
Biden said al-Zawahiri has called for attacks against the U.S. and its allies ever since he took over as the leader of Al Qaeda in 2011 following the death of Osama bin Laden.
The Associated Press was the first to report that al-Zawahiri was killed in the operation.
“He will never again, never again, allow Afghanistan to become a terrorist safe haven because he is gone and we’re going to make sure that nothing else happens,” Biden said. “This terrorist leader is no more.”
Biden said he gave the final order “to go get him” after being advised that “the conditions were optimal.”
A senior administration official confirmed to FWRD AXIS News that U.S. officials tracked al-Zawahri to a home in downtown Kabul. Al-Zawahiri was killed on the balcony of his safe house but no children or civilians were harmed in the air strike.
The death of al-Zawahiri is significant and comes after Biden ordered a strike that killed the new leader of ISIS Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi back in February.
“Justice has been delivered. And this terrorist leader is no more. People around the world no longer need to fear the vicious and determined killer,” Biden said. “No matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out.”
