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14 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 3 AUGUST 2022 WORLD PRESIDENT Joe Biden an- nounced Monday that Al Qa- eda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul, an operation he said delivered justice and hopefully "one more measure of closure" to families of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The president said in an evening address from the White House that U.S. intelligence of- ficials tracked al-Zawahiri to a home in downtown Kabul where he was hiding out with his fam- ily. The president approved the operation last week and it was carried out Sunday. Al-Zawahiri and the bet- ter-known Osama bin Laden plotted the 9/11 attacks that brought many ordinary Ameri- cans their first knowledge of Al Qaeda. Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, in op- eration carried out by U.S. Navy SEALs after a nearly decade-long hunt. As for Al-Zawahiri, Biden said, "He will never again, never again, allow Afghanistan to become a terrorist safe haven because he is gone and we're going to make sure that nothing else happens." "This terrorist leader is no more," he added. The operation is a significant counterterrorism win for the Biden administration just 11 months after American troops left the country after a two-dec- ade war. The strike was carried out by the CIA, according to five peo- ple familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of ano- nymity. Neither Biden nor the White House detailed the CIA's involvement in the strike. Biden, however, paid tribute to the U.S. intelligence commu- nity in his remarks, noting that "thanks to their extraordinary persistence and skill" the opera- tion was a success. Al-Zawahiri's death eliminates the figure who more than any- one shaped Al Qaeda, first as bin Laden's deputy since 1998, then as his successor. Together, he and bin Laden turned the jihadi movement's guns to target the United States, carrying out the deadliest attack ever on Amer- ican soil — the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings. The house Al-Zawahiri was in when he was killed was owned by a top aide to senior Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, ac- cording to a senior intelligence official. The official also add- ed that a CIA ground team and aerial reconnaissance conducted after the drone strike confirmed al-Zawahiri's death. A senior administration official who briefed reporters on the op- eration on condition of anonym- ity said "zero" U.S. personnel were in Kabul. Over the 20-year war in Af- ghanistan, the U.S. targeted and splintered Al Qaeda, sending leaders into hiding. But Amer- ica's exit from Afghanistan last September gave the extremist group the opportunity to re- build. U.S. military officials, includ- ing Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have said Al Qaeda was trying to re- constitute in Afghanistan, where it faced limited threats from the now-ruling Taliban. Military leaders have warned that the group still aspired to attack the U.S. After his killing, the White House underscored that al-Zawahiri had continued to be a dangerous figure. The sen- ior administration official said al-Zawahiri had continued to "provide strategic direction," including urging attacks on the U.S., while in hiding. He had also prioritized to members of the terror network that the United States remained Al Qaeda's "primary enemy," the official said. The 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon made bin Laden America's En- emy No. 1. But he likely could never have carried it out without his deputy. Bin Laden provided Al Qaeda with charisma and money, but al-Zawahiri brought tactics and organizational skills needed to forge militants into a network of cells in countries around the world. U.S. intelligence officials have been aware for years of a net- work helping al-Zawahiri dodge U.S. intelligence officials hunt- ing for him, but didn't have a bead on his possible location un- til recent months. Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri killed Osama bin Laden (left) with Ayman al-Zawahiri during an interview published in 2001 Following the killing of al-Zawahiri, spec- ulation is rife that Saif al-Adel an Egyptian ex-Army officer will be elevated as the new chief of al-Qaeda. Five things to know about Saif al-Adel: 1. Adel is an Egyptian citizen and had served in the Army, rising to the rank of Colonel. 2. Adel was born on April 11, though his birth year is either 1960 or 1963, as per the FBI's record. He was previous- ly affiliated with the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ), founded by Zawahiri, and is believed to be an explosives expert. 3. Adel has been designated as a 'Most Wanted Terrorist' on the FBI's list. He is wanted in connection with the August 1998 bombings targeting American embassies in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and Nairobi (Kenya). 4. The US State Department has an- nounced a reward of up to $10 mil- lion for information leading directly to the arrest or conviction of Adel. He has been accused of conspiring to kill US nationals and trying to destroy properties and buildings belonging to America. 5. Adel played a key role in the infa- mous 'Black Hawk Down' incident on October 13, which resulted in the death of at least 18 US servicemen in Mogadishu, Somalia. This ex-army officer is likely to succeed al- Zawahiri as head of al Qaeda