Biden authorizes drone strike killing al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri

President Biden announces that a CIA drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda and one of the masterminds of the September 11, 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans. Zawahiri, 71, was killed at a safe house in Kabul. Biden, appearing on the White House Balcony following quarantine for COVID, delivers a primetime address. The strike is particularly notable because it occurs in Afghanistan after the US military withdrawal, demonstrating US over-the-horizon counterterrorism capability. It also revealed that the Taliban was sheltering Zawahiri in violation of the Doha Agreement.