Al-Qaeda Chief Ayman al-Zawahiri Killed In US Drone Strike In Afghanistan, Biden Says 'Justice Delivered'

United States President Joe Biden on Monday (1 August) said that Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a US drone strike in Afghanistan.

Biden said that Zawahiri was deeply involved in the "planning of 9/11, one of the most responsible for the attacks that murdered 2,977 people on American soil. For decades, he was the mastermind of attacks against Americans".

Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon who had a $25 million bounty on his head, helped coordinate the 11 September 2001 attack on US.

"I authorized a precision strike that would remove him from the battlefield, once and for all," Biden said.

"Now, justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more. People around the world no longer need to fear the vicious and determined killer," he said, reports CNN.

Zawahiri was sheltering in downtown Kabul to reunite with his family, Biden said.

Biden said that the US continued to demonstrate its resolve and capacity to defend the American people against those who seek to do it harm.

"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 said.

The drone strike comes nearly one year after Biden ordered the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, prompting Taliban to rapidly seize control of the nation.