World is safer after Zawahiri's death: Blinken

August 02, 2022 11:22

File pic: The 9/11 Tribute in Light shines in New York City.

The world is a safer place following the death of Ayman al-Zawahiri, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said, as he accused Afghanistan's Taliban regime of grossly violating its commitments to the international community by "hosting and sheltering" the al-Qaeda chief in Kabul.

Blinken said the US will continue to act against those who threaten the country, its people and its allies.

"We have delivered on our commitment to act against terrorist threats emanating from Afghanistan. The world is safer following the death of al Qa'ida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. The U.S. will continue to act against those who threaten our country, our people, or our allies, he said in a tweet.

Blinken's remarks came shortly after US President Joe announced on Monday that an American precision drone strike killed al-Zawahiri, a key plotter of the 9/11 terrorist attacks who took over as the leader of al-Qaeda after Osama bin Laden's death in Pakistan in 2011, at a safe house in Afghanistan.

Al-Zawahiri, 71, was the No. 2 in al-Qaeda when the group conducted the 9/11 terror attacks, and American officials considered him a central plotter. While he lacked the charismatic leadership of bin Laden, he profoundly shaped al-Qaeda and its terrorist movements with his writing and arguments. -- PTI

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