美国总统乔·拜登周一宣布杀死了基地组织领导人艾曼·阿尔·扎瓦希里在周末阿富汗喀布尔的一次无人机袭击中。他称赞这次行动是打击海外恐怖组织的重大胜利，包括在美国不再保持军事存在的国家。

“正义得到了伸张，这个恐怖分子头目已经不在了。世界各地的人们不再需要害怕这个邪恶而坚定的杀手，”拜登在白宫说，他正在白宫孤立新冠肺炎。

他说:“美国继续展示我们的决心和能力，保护美国人民免受那些试图伤害我们的人的伤害。”。“我们今晚再次明确表示，无论需要多长时间，无论你藏在哪里，如果你对我们的人民构成威胁，美国将找到你，并把你解决掉。”

总统表示，扎瓦希里已经回到阿富汗首都与家人团聚，并于当地时间周日早上被击毙。扎瓦希里被任命为基地组织的领导人奥萨马·本·拉登2011年被美军击毙后，官员们认为他是该组织几十年来国际活动的关键部分。

“他深深卷入了911事件的策划，这是在美国本土造成2977人死亡的恐怖袭击的最大责任人之一。几十年来，他是袭击美国人的幕后策划者，”拜登说。"他对美国公民、美国军人、美国外交官和美国利益实施了一系列谋杀和暴力。"

拜登说，他希望扎瓦希里的死能让那些在2001年9月11日恐怖袭击中有家人遇难的人松一口气。

President Joe Biden speaks from the Blue Room Balcony as he announces that a U.S. airstrike killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri in Afghanistan, in Washington, Aug. 1, 2022.

吉姆·沃森/美联社

“我们继续哀悼在9/11事件中被夺走的每一个无辜的生命，并缅怀他们，”他说。“对于那些在那个灼热的九月的日子里失去父母、丈夫、妻子、儿女、兄弟姐妹、朋友和同事的家庭，我希望这一决定性的行动将带来更多的结束。”

一名高级政府官员周一早些时候告诉记者，美国无人机袭击是在反恐界各部分合作后进行的。一个独立的消息来源告诉ABC新闻，这次行动是由中央情报局执行的。

这位政府官员告诉记者，拜登在4月份第一次被告知扎瓦希里的行踪，并最终在7月1日被告知拟议的行动。主要内阁成员和顾问于7月25日召开会议，听取关于情报评估的最后更新简报，该官员表示，情报评估每天都在继续加强。

“总统收到了一份最新的作战报告，并按粒度级别进行了施压。他再次问及任何其他可以减少附带或平民伤亡的选择。这位官员表示:“他想更多地了解(扎瓦希里在喀布尔的藏身处)大楼三楼门窗后面的房间布局。”。

“在会议结束时，总统授权进行精确的有针对性的空袭，条件是空袭要尽最大可能减少平民伤亡的风险。这一授权意味着一旦有机会，美国政府可以进行空袭，”该官员说。

这位官员说，美国通过情报来源和“多个情报流”确信他被杀了，“而不是其他人”。

对扎瓦希里的成功远程打击发生在拜登担任总统将近一年后，在经历了20年的战争后，美军从阿富汗撤出。他和他的政府当时坚持认为，参与的成本不值得混乱，美国仍然有能力在没有地面部队的情况下追踪和消除恐怖威胁。

这位高级政府官员周一表示:“我们表明，没有美国军队在阿富汗的地面上并处于危险之中，我们仍然能够识别和定位甚至是世界上最受通缉的恐怖分子，然后采取行动将他从战场上清除出去。”。

特朗普政府期间谈判达成的从阿富汗撤军，是在塔利班出人意料地迅速接管阿富汗的背景下发生的，美国在2001年入侵阿富汗后一直与该武装组织作战。拜登在处理撤军问题上面临共和党人和其他人的尖锐批评。

在美国军方和其他人努力转移平民时，喀布尔一个机场检查站遭到伊斯兰国袭击，疏散工作也受到影响。十三名美国士兵和数十名阿富汗人丧生。

周一，这位高级政府官员告诉记者，扎瓦希里一直住在喀布尔最富裕和最著名的社区之一，靠近各种外交中心和国际公司。这位官员证实，执政的塔利班知道他在该地区的存在，这一消息可能会使本已脆弱的中美关系进一步紧张。

这位官员说，塔利班试图掩盖袭击后扎瓦希里在他的安全屋的存在。

“这是我们向塔利班表明的非常重要的一点:我们希望他们遵守多哈协议的条款，扎瓦希里在喀布尔市中心的存在明显违反了这一点，”这名高级官员说，他指的是塔利班与美国总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)在卡塔尔多哈谈判达成的协议。

“我的政府将继续警惕地监控和应对来自基地组织的威胁，无论它们来自哪里，”拜登在白宫的讲话中说。“这场反恐战争不是美国寻求的，是它主动向我们发起的，我们以同样的原则和决心做出了回应，这些原则和决心塑造了一代又一代的美国人:保护无辜者，捍卫自由，我们让自由之光继续燃烧——这是全世界的灯塔。”

Biden announces killing of al-Qaeda leader in Kabul: 'Justice has been delivered'

President Joe Biden announced Monday that the U.S.had killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiriin a drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, over the weekend. He hailed the operation as a significant win in the fight against terror groups overseas -- including in countries where the U.S. no longer maintains a military presence.

"Justice has been delivered, and this terrorist leader is no more. People around the world no longer need to fear the vicious and determined killer," Biden said, speaking from the White House where he is isolating with COVID-19.

"The United States continues to demonstrate our resolve and our capacity to defend the American people against those who seek to do us harm," he said. "We make it clear again tonight that no matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out."

The president said al-Zawahiri had returned to the Afghan capital to be with family and was killed on Sunday morning local time. Al-Zawahiriwas named the leader of al-Qaedaafter Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in 2011 and officials believe he was a key part of the group's international activities for decades.

"He was deeply involved in the planning of 9/11, one of the most responsible for the attacks that killed 2,977 people on American soil. For decades, he was the mastermind behind attacks against Americans," Biden said. "He carved a trail of murder and violence against American citizens, American service members, American diplomats and American interests."

Biden said he hoped al-Zawahiri's killing could offer a moment of relief for those who had family members killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"We continue to mourn every innocent life that was stolen on 9/11 and honor their memories," he said. "To the families who lost fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and coworkers on that searing September day, it is my hope that this decisive action will bring one more measure of closure."

The U.S. drone strike comes after collaboration from various parts of the counterterrorism community, a senior administration official told reporters earlier Monday. A separate source told ABC News the operation was carried out by the CIA.

Biden was first briefed on al-Zawahiri's whereabouts in April and was ultimately briefed on a proposed operation on July 1, the administration official told reporters. Key Cabinet members and advisers were convened on July 25 to receive a final updated briefing on the intelligence assessment, which the official said continued to strengthen on a daily basis.

"The president received an updated operational report and pressed at a granular level. He asked again about any other options that would reduce collateral or civilian casualties. He wanted to understand more about the layout of rooms [of al-Zawahiri's safe house in Kabul] behind the door and windows on the third floor of the building," the official said.

"At the conclusion of the meeting, the president authorized a precise tailored airstrike on the condition that a strike minimize to the greatest extent possible the risk of civilian casualties. This authorization meant that the U.S. government could conduct an airstrike once an opportunity was available," the official said.

The U.S. is confident through intelligence sources and "multiple streams of intelligence that he was killed "and no other individual," the official said.

The successful remote strike against al-Zawahiri comes nearly a year after Biden presided over the turbulent U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan following two decades of war. He and his administration insisted then that the cost of involvement wasn't worth the chaos and that the U.S. would still have the capability to track and eliminate terror threats without forces on the ground.

"We showed that without American forces on the ground in Afghanistan and in harm's way we remain able to identify and locate even the world's most wanted terrorists and then take action to remove him from the battlefield," the senior administration official said Monday.

The exit from Afghanistan, which had been negotiated during the Trump administration, took place against the backdrop of an unexpectedly rapid takeover of the country by the Taliban, the armed group the U.S. had fought after invading in 2001. Biden faced sharp criticism from Republicans and others over his handling of the withdrawal.

Evacuation efforts were also marred by an Islamic State attack at an airport checkpoint in Kabul as the U.S. military and others worked to ferry out civilians. Thirteen U.S. troops and dozens of Afghans were killed.

On Monday, the senior administration official told reporters that al-Zawahiri had been staying in one of Kabul's most affluent and prominent neighborhoods, near various diplomatic centers and international companies. The official confirmed that the ruling Taliban were aware of his presence in the area, knowledge that could further strain already tenuous relations with Washington.

The official said that the Taliban sought to cover up al-Zawahiri's presence at his safe house after the strike.

"This is a very important point for us to make clear to the Taliban: that we expect them to abide by the terms of the Doha agreement, and the presence of al-Zawahiri in downtown Kabul is a clear violation of that," the senior official said, referring to the agreement the Taliban negotiated with President Donald Trump in Doha, Qatar.

"My administration will continue to vigilantly monitor and address threats from al-Qaeda, no matter where they emanate from," Biden said in his speech from the White House. "The United States did not seek this war against terror, it came to us, and we answered with the same principles and resolve that have shaped us for generation upon generation: to protect [the] innocent, defend liberty, and we keep the light of freedom burning -- a beacon for the rest of the entire world."