World is safer place following Ayman al-Zawahiri’s death: US Secretary Blinken

The world is a safer place following the death of Ayman al-Zawahiri, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said, as he accused Afghanan’s Taliban regime of grossly violating its commitments to the international community “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 terror threats emanating from Afghanan. 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 terror attacks who took over as the leader of al-Qaeda after Osama bin Laden’s death in Pakan in 2011, at a safe house in Afghanan.
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 terror movements with his writing and arguments.

Blinken said that sheltering al-Zawahiri in Afghanan, “the Taliban grossly violated the Doha Agreement and repeated assurances to the world that they would not allow Afghan territory to be used terrors to threaten the security of other countries.” Al-Zawahiri has long been a wanted man. After the September 11 terror attacks, then-President George W Bush released a l of the FBI’s 22 most wanted terrors, with al-Zawahiri near the top of the l along with bin Laden.
With al-Zawahiri’s death, all of the top plotters of September 11, 2001, terror attacks are now either dead or captured. The FBI updated its “Most Wanted Terror” poster on Monday with al-Zawahiri’s status: “Deceased.” Bin Laden was killed US special forces in Pakan in 2011, but al-Zawahiri eluded attempts on his life and an international manhunt until his death.
He continued to release video statements, including one on September 11, 2021, although it was unclear if that recording was new or old.
It was rumoured for years that he had died, and the US offered USD 25 million for information that could lead to his apprehension, CBS News reported.
The US claims that the Taliban violated the peace agreement letting al-Zawahiri into the country. The Taliban claims the US violated the peace agreement conducting a strike.
The previous Trump adminration signed the peace deal with the Taliban in February 2020 in Doha. The accord drew up plans for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanan in exchange for security guarantees from the insurgent group. As part of the deal, the US committed to withdrawing its 12,000 troops within 14 months.
The Taliban committed to preventing other groups, including al-Qaeda, from using Afghan soil to recruit, train or fundraise for activities that threaten the US or its allies.
The agreement signed in Doha, Qatar, was aimed at bringing an end to the nearly two-decade war in Afghanan.