Afghan Taliban cofirms US drone atrike, calls it violation of international law

By South Asia Times

WASHINGTON: The US President Joe Biden claimed that the US forces has killed Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike in Kabul, capital city of Afghanistan.

In a statement, Biden said Zawahiri was targeted on Saturday on his direction.

“You know, al-Zawahiri was bin Laden’s leader.  He was with him all the — the whole time.  He was his number-two man, his deputy at the time of the terrorist attack of 9/11.  He 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,” said Biden. 

Biden accused Zawahiri of his involvement in the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000, which killed 17 American sailors and wounded dozens more and played key role in the bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 and wounding over 4,500 others.

“He carved a trail of murder and violence against American citizens, American service members, American diplomats, and American interests.  And since the United States delivered justice to bin Laden 11 years ago, Zawahiri has been a leader of al Qaeda. 

“From hiding, he coordinated al Qaeda’s branches and all around the world — including setting priorities, for providing operational guidance that called for and inspired attacks against U.S. targets,” he said.

According to Biden, US intelligence located Zawahiri earlier this year in Afghanistan when he was moved to downtown Kabul to reunite with members of his immediate family.

“After carefully considering the clear and convincing evidence of his location, I authorized a precision strike that would remove him from the battlefield once and for all.

This mission was carefully planned and rigorously minimized the risk of harm to other civilians.  And one week ago, after being advised that the conditions were optimal, I gave the final approval to go get him, and the mission was a success.  None of his family members were hurt, and there were no civilian casualties,” he said.

“I’m sharing this news with the American people now, after confirming the mission’s total success through the painstaking work of our counterterrorism community and key allies and partners.”

“When I ended our military mission in Afghanistan almost a year ago, I made the decision that after 20 years of war, the United States no longer needed thousands of boots on the ground in Afghanistan to protect America from terrorists who seek to do us harm,” he added.

“And I made a promise to the American people that we’d continue to conduct effective counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan and beyond.

We’ve done just that.”

Biden said he will never allow Afghanistan to again become a terrorist safe haven and again use Afghan soil as launching pad against Washington.

  “We’re going to see to it that won’t happen.”

 Meanwhile, Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also confirmed the US drone strike in Kabul, however, didn’t confirm that Zawahiri has been targeted.

“An air strike was carried out on a residential house in Sherpur area of Kabul city. The nature of the incident was not revealed at first. The security and intelligence agencies of the Islamic Emirate investigated the incident and found that the attack was carried out by American drones,” said Mujahid in a statement.

He condemned the attacks and called it a clear violation of international principles and the Doha Agreement.

“Such actions are a repetition of the failed experiences of the past 20 years and are against the interests of the United States of America, Afghanistan and the region. Repeating such actions will damage the available opportunities,” he warned.