Justice delivered, says Joe Biden after US drone strike in Afghanistan kills al Qaeda’s Zawahiri

US President Joe Biden said that “justice has been delivered” after al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a CIA drone strike in Afghanistan on Saturday.

“On Saturday, at my direction, the United States successfully conducted an airstrike in Kabul, Afghanistan that killed the emir of Al-Qaida Ayman al-Zawahiri. Justice has been delivered,” tweeted President Biden.

In a video message, Biden said that he had made a promise to the American people that the US would continue to conduct effective counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan and beyond. “We have done that,” he said.

In another tweet, President Biden said the United States continued to demonstrate “our resolve and our capacity to defend the American people” against those who seek to do harm. “Tonight we made clear: No matter how long it takes. No matter where you try to hide. We will find you,” he tweeted.

A US drone strike in Afghanistan this weekend killed Ayman al-Zawahri, who helped Osama bin Laden plot the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and ensured al-Qaida survived and spread in the years after. President Joe Biden on Monday announced the killing of al-Zawahri, delivering a significant counterterrorism win just 11 months after American troops left the country.

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Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon who had a $25 million bounty on his head, helped coordinate the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

He was killed on the balcony of a “safe house” in Kabul that he shared with other members of his family. No other casualties occurred.