Saudi welcomes US op on Al Qaeda's Ayman Al-Zawahiri: 'Thousands were killed'

Zawahiri, who planned the 9/11 terror attacks in New York, was killed in a drone attack in Kabul by the US, Joe Biden said.

Published on: Aug 2, 2022, 09:04:28 IST

By HT News Desk

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Saudi Arabia on Tuesday welcomed the US announcement that Al-Qaeda head Ayman al-Zawahiri had been killed in a precision strike. The remarks came moments after US President Joe Biden's video statement where he made the announcement about the killing of one of the world's most-wanted terrorists, who was behind the 9/11 attacks.

Osama bin Laden sits with his adviser Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian linked to the al Qaeda network. (via REUTERS)

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia welcomed the announcement by US President Joe Biden of the targeting and killing of the terrorist leader of Al-Qaeda Ayman Al-Zawahiri,” Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry released a statement.

The Saudi foreign ministry further said he was “considered one of the leaders of terrorism that led the planning and execution of heinous terrorist operations in the United States, Saudi Arabia and a number of other countries of the world”.

“Thousands of innocent people of different nationalities and religions, including Saudi citizens, were killed.”

“The Kingdom's government stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation and concerted international efforts to combat and eradicate terrorism, calling on all countries to cooperate in this framework to protect innocent people from terrorist organisations,” the statement read.

Zawahiri "was deeply involved in the planning of 9/11 terror attacks," Biden underlined in his announcement, reiterating that he was Osama Bin Laden's leader who had targeted several American citizens, interests and diplomats.

Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahiri was tracked down to a hideout in Kabul where he was staying with his family. A senior US administration official said Zawahiri was on the balcony of a house in Kabul when he was targeted with two Hellfire missiles, an hour after sunrise on July 31. "No civilians were hurt" in the operation.

Zawahiri took over Al-Qaeda after Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces in Pakistan in 2011. He had a $25 million US bounty on his head.

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