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The U.S. killed another notorious terrorist by drone. Is there a cost to such killings?

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(AP Photo/Mazhar Ali Khan, File)
In this 1998 file photo made available Friday, March 19, 2004, Ayman al-Zawahri, left, listens during a news conference with Osama bin Laden in Khost, Afghanistan. A U.S. airstrike has killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri in Afghanistan, according to a person familiar with the matter. President Joe Biden will speak about the operation on Monday night, Aug. 1, 2022, from the White House.

President Joe Biden announced this week that, after almost two decades since 9/11, the U.S. killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, successor of Osama bin Laden and one of the most wanted terrorists in the world.

“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,” Biden said Monday, announcing al-Zawahiri’s death. 

Al-Zawahiri was killed in a complex counterterrorism operation on the balcony of a safe house in downtown Kabul, Afghanistan, by an unmanned aerial vehicle that launched two Hellfire missiles on July 30, at 9:48 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. No other civilians, including members of al-Zawahiri’s family, were harmed in this strike, a senior administration official said. 

Continue reading at News@Northeastern.

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