Over the weekend a drone strike by the United States claimed the life of Ayman al-Zawahri.
WASHINGTON (USA TODAY) — President Joe Biden said Monday that a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan over the weekend killed top al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri, the successor of the terrorist network’s slain leader Osama bin Laden.
"Justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more," the president said in a special address at the White House Monday evening.
The strike, which occurred at 9:38 p.m. ET Saturday night, is the first known U.S. attack in Afghanistan since Biden ended America’s 20-year war in Afghanistan last August.
Al-Zawahri, 71, was standing on a balcony of a “safe house” in downtown Kabul that was hit by two missiles, according to a senior administration official, who discussed the attack with reporters on the condition of anonymity.
The strikes killed al-Zawahri – the most senior leader of al-Qaida since 2011 – and no one else, including civilians, the official said, citing U.S. intelligence. None of al-Zawahri’s family members were present.