US Kills al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan

FILE – In this 1998 file photo made available Friday, March 19, 2004, Ayman al-Zawahri, left, listens during a news conference with Osama bin Laden in Khost, Afghanistan. A U.S. airstrike has killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri in Afghanistan, according to a person familiar with the matter. President Joe Biden will speak about the operation on Monday night, Aug. 1, 2022, from the White House. (AP Photo/Mazhar Ali Khan, File)

President Joe Biden announced the United States killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike on Saturday.

“He was deeply involved in the planning of 9/11, one of the most responsible for the attacks that murdered 2,977 people on American soil. For decades, he was the mastermind of attacks against Americans,” Biden said Monday in a speech from the White House.

“[Ayman al-Zawahiri] will never again allow Afghanistan to become a terrorist safe haven…It can’t be a launching pad against the United States,” Biden continued.

On Saturday, at my direction, the United States successfully conducted an airstrike in Kabul, Afghanistan that killed the emir of al-Qa’ida: Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Justice has been delivered.
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 1, 2022

Biden defended his decision to kill the al Qaeda leader because, “As commander in chief, it is my solemn responsibility to make American safe in a dangerous world.”

Watch Biden’s complete speech below.

I’m addressing the nation on a successful counterterrorism operation. https://t.co/SgTVaszA3s
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 1, 2022