Saudi Arabia welcomes announcement of Al-Qaeda chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri's killing

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday welcomed the announcement made by United States President Joe Biden that Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri had been killed in a precision strike, the country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The statement by the Middle-East country came after Biden, in a video, announced the killing of one of the world's most-wanted terrorists. Zawahiri was claimed to be behind the terrible 9/11 attacks.

"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 said in a statement. 

The ministry added that Zawahiri 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 across the world that killed thousands of innocent people of different nationalities and religions, including Saudi citizens.

“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.

Ayman al-Zawahiri succeeded as Al-Qaeda’s chief after Osama bin Laden was hunted down by the US SEAL forces in 2011. Notably, the Eygpt-born Al-Qaeda chief was last seen in a video in April 2022 attempting to wade into India’s hijab controversy. Earlier, he was seen in a video in 2021 marking the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, months after he was rumoured to be dead.

US kills Al-Qaeda chief in Kabul

US President Joe Biden in a speech from the White House said that by undertaking a "counterterrorism operation" in Afghanistan, the United States has successfully killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was sheltering in a safe house in Kabul. 
"On Saturday, at my direction, the United States successfully conducted an airstrike in Kabul, Afghanistan that killed the emir of al-Qa’ida: Ayman al-Zawahiri. Justice has been delivered," Biden said. 

According to the reports, Zawahiri was standing on the balcony of a safe house when a drone fired two missiles at him. Zawahiri’s other family members were present but only the terror mastermind was killed in the mission.