Ayman al-Zawahiri, who replaced Osama bin Laden as leader of al-Qaeda.died on the night from Saturday to Sunday as a result of an airstrike United States in the Afghan capital Kabulsaid the US president on Monday evening (local time; early morning Greek time). Joe Bidenan event that marks a new heavy blow for this terrorist organization.

“On Saturday, on my orders, the United States launched an airstrike in Kabul, Afghanistan, which killed Al-Qaeda emir Ayman al-Zawahiri,” the US president said during an emergency televised address from the White House.

“Justice has been served,” added Joe Biden, “this terrorist leader is no more.” “We never give up,” he added.

Ayman al-Zawahiri was one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. Washington offered a $25 million reward for any information that would lead to his whereabouts.

He assumed leadership of al-Qaeda in 2011 after the death of Osama bin Laden during a US Special Forces operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan. On the run for more than ten years, he was considered one of the organizers of the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington (more than 3,000 people died).

“Challenges”

“More than 20 years after 9/11, the US finally finished off Ayman al-Zawahiri, a close associate and successor of Osama bin Laden,” said Thomas Joslin, an expert at the Defense of Democracies Foundation, a US think tank. Twitter. “Although it had many shortcomings, it was not as insignificant as many analysts thought,” he added.

Inheriting a weakened organization in 2011, 71-year-old Ayman al-Zawahiri has multiplied franchises, partnerships with ideologically aligned organizations and opportunistic alliances from the Arabian Peninsula to the Maghreb, from Somalia to Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.

“Despite Zawahiri’s leadership (…), the organization still faces many challenges. The main question is who will take over the leadership of al-Qaeda after his death, ”said Colin Clark, a researcher at the American think tank Soufan Group.

At the end of 2020, sources believed for some time that he died of heart disease, but then the al-Qaeda leader reappeared on video.

Al-Qaeda had already lost its number 2, Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, who was killed in August 2020 on the streets of Tehran by Israeli agents in a covert operation on behalf of Washington, the New York Times reported at the time.

“There are no civilian casualties”

Zawahiri was killed when a U.S. UAV fired two Hellfire missiles at a target in Kabul, Afghanistan, without U.S. military or intelligence on the ground, according to a U.S. official.

There were “no civilian casualties” during the operation, Mr. Biden assured in his speech.

The head of state also said that Washington would never again allow Afghanistan to become a safe haven for terrorists.

The development was announced almost a year after the chaotic withdrawal of US and other Western military and diplomatic personnel from Afghanistan, allowing the Taliban to regain control of the country two decades later.

On February 3, Joe Biden announced the death of the leader of the jihadist group “Islamic State” (IS), Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Kurasi, during an operation in northern Syria.

In his televised address on the operation, the Democratic president warned the leaders of the jihadist organizations: “We are after you and we will find you.”

It was the first known US air strike on Kabul since the Taliban took over Afghanistan. Biden’s announcement of the Egyptian surgeon’s death raises many questions from the Taliban, who have vowed they will not allow terrorist organizations to use Afghan territory as a safe haven once they return to power.

Senior Taliban officials were aware of Zawahiri’s presence in Kabul, according to a Biden administration official. According to Washington, this was a “clear violation” of agreements signed by the Taliban with the US in Doha in 2020.

Happening now: President Biden addresses the nation on a successful counterterrorism operation. https://t.co/JiYnzn5TUj

— White House (@WhiteHouse) August 1, 2022

Obama: Terrorism can be eradicated without fighting in Afghanistan

Former US President Barack Obama said the news of the death of the leader of al-Qaeda shows that “it is possible to eradicate terrorism without fighting in Afghanistan.”

“I also hope this brings peace to the families of the victims of 9/11 and to everyone else who suffered at the hands of al-Qaeda,” he added.

More than 20 years after 9/11, Ayman al-Zawahiri, one of the masterminds of the attack and Osama bin Laden’s successor as leader of al-Qaeda, is finally on trial.

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 2, 2022

with information from AFP, Reuters, DPA, APE-MPE