Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri’s death confirmed through ‘multiple sources’ and doesn’t need DNA evidence, US says | US News

The White House says the US has no DNA confirmation of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri’s death in Kabul – but has verified his identity through “multiple” other sources.

Al-Zawahiri, one of the masterminds of the 9/11 attacks, is killed in a US drone strike at his home in the Afghan capital, where he had escaped with his family.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby told CNN: “We don’t have DNA confirmation. We won’t get that confirmation.

“Honestly, based on the many sources and methods we’ve gathered information from, we don’t need it.

“We have visual confirmation, but we also have validation through other sources.”

Read more: From middle-class doctor to world’s most wanted man – who is Ayman al-Zawahiri?

US President Joe Biden announced the death from the balcony of the Blue Room of the White House, saying “justice has been delivered”.

“This terrorist leader is no more,” Biden added, before expressing hope the killing would bring “another measure of closure” to the families of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attack. September 11, 2001.

The president added that Afghanistan will “never become a safe haven for terrorists” after the attack was carried out nearly a year after the withdrawal of US troops from the country.

The Egyptian terrorist leader was standing on the balcony of a safe house on Sunday morning when he was killed by two hellish rockets launched from a drone.

Mr. Biden said no members of the 71-year-old’s family were injured and there were no civilian casualties.

The FBI has provided $25 million (£20 million) for “information leading to the arrest or conviction” of the terrorist leader, whose death was the biggest blow to al Qaeda since its founder. Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces in 2011.

According to a senior US administration official, the operation to kill al-Zawahiri was part of a plan that lasted many months.

Mr. Biden was first informed of a proposed operation to kill the al Qaeda leader on July 1 of this year.

But it was much earlier last year when intelligence suggested that his wife and children had moved to Kabul. He and his family are believed to have been in hiding in Pakistan up until that point.

The whole family was taken to a safe house, where al-Zawahiri was eventually discovered.

He was monitored for several months and his life pattern was recorded. He never left the house but did spend time on the balcony, where he was eventually killed.

On July 25, a detailed proposal was presented to Mr. Biden, the administration official said, asking for “care at a level of detail” because of its focus on taking it “step by step… to minimize civilian casualties”.

Intelligence allowed the Americans to study the construction of the house to ensure that civilian casualties were avoided.

The official added that al-Zawahiri’s death was “a major blow to al Qaeda and will degrade its ability to operate”.