US kills Al-Qaeda chief Zawahiri in Afghan drone strike

KABUL, Aug 2 (AFP/ Reuters): A United States drone strike killed Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri at a hideout in Kabul, President Joe Biden said Monday, declaring "justice had been delivered" to the families of the 9/11 attacks.
Zawahiri, who had a $25 million US bounty on his head, survived years in Afghanistan's rugged mountains but his last months were spent in an upscale Kabul neighbourhood where top officials from the Taliban also live.
Zawahiri's assassination is the biggest blow to Al-Qaeda since US special forces killed Osama bin Laden in 2011, and calls into question the Taliban's promise not to harbour militant groups.
US officials said Hellfire missiles from a US drone killed the 71-year-old when he came out on the balcony of a safe house in Kabul on Sunday morning. US President Joe Biden said no civilians were killed.
The Taliban confirmed an air strike on a residential house in the Sherpoor area of Kabul. However, they made no mention of casualties nor did they name Zawahiri.
Zawahiri moved to a "very safe place" in Kabul a few months after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August last year, a senior leader of the radical group told Reuters on Tuesday on the condition of anonymity.