Washington: Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, who had been on the run since the 9/11 attacks and carried a $25 million US bounty on his head, was killed in a US airstrike in the Afghan capital Kabul, President Joe Biden announced on Monday.
Al-Zawahiri was eliminated on Saturday, Biden said.
In a televised address, the US President hoped that al-Zawahiri’s death would bring “closure” to families of the 3,000 people killed on American soil on 9/11.
“Justice has been delivered, and this terrorist leader is no more,” Biden said.
“The United States continues to demonstrate our resolve and our capacity to defend the American people against those who seek to do us harm. Tonight we made clear: No matter how long it takes. No matter where you try to hide. We will find you,” he later tweeted, according to media reports.
According to media reports, al-Zawahiri was on the balcony of his Kabul residence when he was struck by two Hellfire missiles on July 31. Members of al-Zawahiri’s family who were at home were not harmed, the reports added.
Al-Zawahiri had taken over al-Qaeda after Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces in Pakistan in 2011.
