US killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri
Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama Bin Laden in 2001. Reuters/Hamid Mir
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
The leader of Al-Qaeda, successor to Osama bin Laden, was killed this weekend during an anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan, according to the Associated Press agency.
Advertising
Read more
The United States has killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, one of the world's most wanted terrorists, US media report.
He had overseen the September 11, 2001 attacks alongside the group's founder, Osama bin Laden.
Zawahiri took over as head of the terrorist organization after the latter's death in 2011.
"
The operation was successful and caused no civilian casualties
," a senior US official told reporters.
President Joe Biden is scheduled to speak at 11:30 p.m. UT about a “
successful counterterrorism operation
,” according to the White House, which did not provide additional details.
This announcement comes almost a year after the chaotic withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan, which had allowed the Taliban to regain control of the country twenty years later.
The United States had also announced in mid-July that it had killed the leader of the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, Maher al-Agal, during a drone strike, an operation which had "
considerably weakened the capacity of the 'ISIS to prepare, finance and conduct its operations in the region
,' according to a US military spokesman.
More information to come
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
United States
Afghanistan
al-Qaeda