US killed al-Qaeda chief al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan: US media

The United States killed al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in a “successful” operation against a target in Afghanistan announced by the White House on Monday, according to US media.

Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon-turned-one of the world’s most wanted terrorists, has been identified as masterminding the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States that killed nearly 3,000 people.

He has since been on the run, taking over al-Qaeda after Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan in 2011. The United States had put a $25 million bounty on his head.

The New York Times, Washington Post and CNN were among the media outlets reporting on the target’s identity, citing unidentified sources. President Joe Biden was scheduled to deliver a televised address on the operation later Monday.

It would be the first known over-the-horizon attack by the United States on an al-Qaeda target in Afghanistan since American forces withdrew from the country on August 31, 2021.

US officials did not explain where in Afghanistan the attack took place.

On Saturday morning, the Afghan interior ministry denied widespread reports of a drone strike in Kabul on social media, telling AFP news agency a missile had hit “an empty house” in the capital and claimed no casualties.

However, early Tuesday in Kabul, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted that an “air strike” had been carried out on an apartment building in the Sherpur district.

“The nature of the incident was not initially disclosed. The Islamic Emirate’s security and intelligence services investigated the incident and found in their preliminary investigations that the attack was carried out by American drones,” he tweeted.

In recent months, the Taliban have largely prevented the media from reporting the aftermath of security incidents, often denying or downplaying victims.