The United States military successfully carried out an attack that killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al Qaeda on Monday.
Ayman al-Zawahiri's role in Al Qaeda Operations
Until his demise, Ayman al-Zawahiri was the leader of al
Qaeda and the most wanted terrorist after Osama Bin Laden with a $25 million reward
on his head. He was the visible and most notable leader of Al Qaeda and Osama's successor. Many
believe that he was the mastermind of the 9/11 attack at the World Trade Center in New York that
killed over 2000 people, and other targeted attacks against the US in the
Middle East.
Osama Bin Laden only became more popular because of his prominent background and riches which enabled him to be the main sponsor of Al Qaeda. Zawahiri, on the other hand, came from a humble background but played a key role in the existence and operations of Al Qaeda around the world.
He was an Egyptian doctor and the personal
physician to Osama Biden, at some point, but rose to top leadership position of Al Qaeda after the
death of Osama in 2011.
Ayman al-Zawahiri was reportedly sheltering with his family
in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan when the US drone targeted him through intelligent
information by the CIA. US report, however, stressed that no US personnel was on ground in Kabul during
the attack.
Press Release from the US President
In his statement, the US president, Joe Biden, expressed his
satisfaction over the success of the operation and announced that the US intelligence
located the al Qaeda leader earlier this year but decided to carry out the
attack later to avoid civilian casualty. He expressed the US readiness to
target every threat against the US and its allies around the world.
“Now justice has been delivered and this terror leader is no
more. People around the world no longer need to fear the vicious and determined
leader”, Biden said in his press release. “We make it clear again tonight, that
no matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide if you are a threat to
our people, the United States will find you and take you out”, he added.
How does this attack influence the Doha Agreement?
The Taliban, who is now in charge of the government of Afghanistan, describes the attack of the terror leader as illegal and strongly condemns that it.
“This is a clear violation of international principles and the
Doha Agreement”, the Taliban Spokesperson, Zaiullah Mujahid, tweeted.
Ayman al-Zawahiri
The US secretary of states, Antony Blinken, on the other
hand, said that the presence of Zawahiri in Kabul is a great violation of the Doha
Agreement and the failure of the Taliban's repeated assurance of the world that Afghanistan will not be used
to breed terrorists.
This is not the first of such successful operations by the United
States this year against terror organizations. Early last month, the US air strike killed a top ISIS in Iraq. This is just one of the
continuous global counter-terrorism operations by the US government after the 9/11 attack.
Posts
