Washington. August 2. INTERFAX - US President Joe Biden, during his address to his compatriots, reported on the counter-terrorism operation in Afghanistan, as a result of which the leader of Al-Qaeda (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation), Ayman al-Zawahiri, was killed.
"He left behind a trail of murders and violence against American citizens, American military personnel, American diplomats and American interests," Biden said.
"Now justice has been done, and this terrorist leader is no more," the US president confirmed.
The American leader added that none of Zawahiri's family members were injured, and there were no civilian casualties.
He also noted that the United States will not allow Afghanistan to become a haven for terrorists again.
"When I completed our military mission in Afghanistan almost a year ago, I made the decision that after 20 years of war, the United States no longer needs thousands of soldiers on Afghan soil to protect Americans from terrorists who seek to harm us. And I made a promise to the American people that we will continue to conduct effective counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan and beyond. That's exactly what we did," Biden said.
According to the American leader, after "careful consideration of clear and convincing evidence" of Zawahiri's whereabouts, he authorized a "precise strike", as a result of which the terrorist leader was destroyed.
A representative of the US administration told reporters on condition of anonymity that Zawahiri was killed on July 30 at 21:48 US eastern time (14:48 Moscow time) at a safe house in Kabul, which was hit by two Hellfire missiles.
At the same time, as the official noted, there was not a single American serviceman on the territory of Kabul.
He stated that, according to the information available to the United States, senior figures of the Taliban movement (the Taliban movement is recognized as terrorist in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation and is prohibited in Russia) knew about the presence of Zawahiri in the area, which is "a clear violation of the agreement reached in Doha."
Washington did not warn Taliban officials in advance about the missile strike, a White House spokesman said.
According to him, US President Joe Biden was informed about the preparation of the operation, studied the intelligence, and "unequivocally called for taking steps to minimize the risk of any civilian casualties." He was also informed of the results.
Zawahiri acted as the personal physician of the leader of Al-Qaeda (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) Osama bin Laden. After the US liquidated bin Laden in 2011, he headed Al-Qaeda.
Zawahiri was born in Egypt. In 1974 he graduated from the Medical Faculty of Cairo University. In the 70s, he became one of the leaders of the Egyptian extremist group, which merged with al-Qaeda in the late 1990s. In Egypt, Zawahiri was sentenced to death in absentia.
The US State Department has previously offered a reward of up to $25 million for information that will contribute to the capture of Zawahiri.
The Taliban movement is recognized as a terrorist movement in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation and is prohibited in Russia.
