08.02.22

Murkowski Praises Intelligence Community for Elimination of Al-Qaeda Leader

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) released the following statement after President Joe Biden announced the death of terrorist leader Ayman al-Zawahiri via a drone strike conducted by the U.S. intelligence community. Al-Zawahiri helped plan deadly terrorist attacks around the world, including the September 11 attacks, and had led al-Qaeda since 2011.

“America is safer today, and it is the dedicated men and women who serve in our intelligence community who have made us so. Their quiet work – as precise as it is tireless – has delivered yet another success in the global fight against terrorism, this time the elimination of an al-Qaeda mastermind in downtown Kabul without a single civilian casualty,” Murkowski said. “We urgently need to discuss what al-Zawahiri’s presence there means about Afghanistan, and what we must do to keep it from becoming a full-scale terrorist haven, but for now: to those who serve, or have served, at our intelligence agencies, we thank you and are grateful for you.”  

Al-Zawahiri was killed this past weekend in a U.S. airstrike. He was reportedly living in a house in Kabul, Afghanistan owned by a top aide to a senior Taliban official.

Related Issues: Defense