Over the weekend, the United States executed a successful counterterrorism operation in Afghanistan, eliminating Aiman Al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al Qaeda who had replaced Osama Bin Laden after the latter’s death in 2011.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation placed a $25 million bounty on Zawahiri’s head because of his involvement in the planning of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, which claimed nearly 3,000 innocent lives on American soil, as well as the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000 and the bombings of American targets on August 7, 1988. He was one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Two US intelligence sources tell @BretBaier that the target of the US drone strike in Afghanistan was Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri, Bin Laden's #2. Zawahiri was allegedly killed in the drone strike. President Biden will speak from the White House at 7:30 pm.
— Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) August 1, 2022
Prior to President Joe Biden’s speech at 7:30 p.m. ET, sources corroborated new information in a White House announcement that the United States carried out a counterterrorism operation on a critical Al Qaeda target in Afghanistan over the weekend.
,/center>Zawahiri had a $25 million bounty on his head since 2001. In addition to planning 9/11, also behind attack on USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors in Yemen in 2000. State Dept. says he played role in August 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) August 1, 2022
The CIA drone hit that killed Zawahiri without causing any known civilian deaths occurred in Kabul in the early morning hours of Sunday local time, or in the late evening hours of Saturday on America’s East Coast.
Tonight at 7:30 PM ET, President Biden will deliver remarks on a successful counterterrorism operation.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 1, 2022
Biden’s catastrophic retreat from Afghanistan had been seized upon by Al Qaeda, and it had just been made known that Zawahiri was still alive and well. According to reports from Afghanistan, the Taliban’s seizure of Afghanistan and the consolidation of power of significant Al-Qaida partners inside their de facto administration coincided with Al Qaeda’s apparent improved comfort and communication.
