MONITORING (SW) – Saudi Arabia has welcomed the announcement of Zawahiri killing in a US attack in Kabul, Afghanistan.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia welcomed the announcement by US President Joe Biden of the targeting and killing of the terrorist leader of Al-Qaeda Ayman Al-Zawahiri,” the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
US President on Monday evening announced that the CIA had carried out the drone strike over the weekend and killed Zawahiri.
What did Obama say?
Former US president Barack Obama on Monday welcomed the killing of al-Zawahiri.
Taking to Twitter Obama said, “More than 20 years after 9/11, one of the masterminds of that terrorist attack and Osama bin Laden’s successor as the leader of al-Qaeda – Ayman al-Zawahiri – has finally been brought to justice.”
“It’s a tribute to President Biden’s leadership, to the members of the intelligence community who have been working for decades for this moment, and to the counterterrorism professionals who were able to take al-Zawahiri out without a single civilian casualty.
“Tonight’s news is also proof that it’s possible to root out terrorism without being at war in Afghanistan. And I hope it provides a small measure of peace to the 9/11 families and everyone else who has suffered at the hands of al-Qaeda,” the former US President added.
According to CNN, the US undertook “a precision counterterrorism operation” targeting Zawahiri, who was sheltering in a safehouse in Kabul, a senior administration told reporters Monday.
According to the official, “a precise tailored airstrike” using two hellfire missiles was conducted at 9:48 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 30 at 6:18 am (Kabul time), through an unmanned air strike.
It was authorised by Biden following weeks of meetings with his cabinet and key advisers. No American personnel were on the ground in Kabul at the time of the strike.
Though clear details are yet to emerge, photos of the alleged safehouse in Kabul where Zawahiri was said to have resided emerged on social media.
ENDS
