Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda leader, killed in airstrike, Biden speech

President Biden addressed the nation Monday evening after a counterterrorism operation that killed al Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahiri. Three sources confirmed to CBS News that al-Zawahiri was killed in a U.S. counterterrorism strike in Afghanistan over the weekend.

“He carved a trail of murder and violence against American citizens, American service members, American diplomats, and American interests,” President Biden stated in his remarks. “…Now, justice has been delivered. And this terrorist leader is no more.”

With al-Zawahiri’s demise, all of high plotters of the Sept. 11 terrorist assaults are both lifeless or captured.

The strike comes almost one 12 months after U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan, one thing that was not misplaced on the president. The Biden administration has lengthy made the argument that it might probably proceed to handle terrorist threats to the American individuals with out boots on the bottom. 

Two intelligence sources accustomed to the matter stated the strike was carried out by the CIA. A senior administration official stated there have been no civilian casualties, one thing the president reiterated. 

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on Monday confirmed an airstrike carried out by a drone in Kabul. He stated the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan views that as a transparent violation of worldwide ideas.

The Taliban stated the strike occurred in a residential neighborhood in Kabul. 

On a name with reporters Monday night, a senior administration official stated the U.S. authorities had a number of, unbiased sources confirming al-Zawahiri’s whereabouts at a safehouse. He was in the end taken out by a drone at 9:48 p.m. ET Saturday whereas he was on the balcony of the secure home, and his relations had been in totally different rooms of the home. The U.S. authorities, the senior administration official stated, has a excessive stage of confidence that nobody else was killed in the strike. 

The senior administration official stated the strike was a results of cautious, affected person and chronic work by counterterrorism officers over the course of months and years. The official additionally famous the short, decisive motion of the president as soon as they decided the place the al Qaeda chief was positioned. 

The senior administration official stated the president acquired common updates because the U.S. authorities zeroed in on al-Zawahiri. Once the safehouse was positioned, the president wished to grasp extra in regards to the format of the safehouse’s doorways and home windows to keep away from different casualties. In a July 25 assembly, the president licensed a exact, tailor-made air strike that will reduce civilian deaths as a lot as attainable, the senior administration official stated. 

Al-Zawahiri has lengthy been a wished man. After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist assaults, then-President George W. Bush launched a listing of the FBI’s 22 most wished terrorists, with al-Zawahiri close to the highest of the checklist together with Osama bin Laden. 

For years, al-Zawahiri was referred to as al Qaeda’s No. 2, however many analysts imagine he was actually the brains behind bin Laden’s operation.     

Bin Laden was killed by U.S. particular forces in 2011, however al-Zawahiri eluded makes an attempt on his life and a world manhunt till his demise. With al-Zawahiri’s demise, all of high plotters of the Sept. 11 terrorist assaults are both lifeless or captured.

Zawahiri continued to launch video statements, together with one on Sept. 11, 2021, though it was unclear if that recording was new or outdated. It was rumored for years that he had died, and the U.S. supplied $25 million for information that might result in his apprehension.

 — CBS News’ Arden Farhi, Nancy Cordes, Andres Triay, Ahmad Muktar, Pat Milton and Olivia Gazis contributed to this report.