Sunday night, President Obama announced the death of one of the world’s most wanted terrorists, Osama Bin Laden. The news comes almost ten years after the September 11th attacks on the United States for which the Al-Qaeda leader held responsibility.
Bin Laden first appeared on the FBI’s Most Wanted Fugitive List in 1999.
Since 2001, he has eluded counter-terrorism officials by taking refuge in the mountains of Afghanistan and later across the Pakistan border. While in hiding, Bin Laden remained a strong symbolic figure for Al-Qaeda and retained many strategic responsibilities.
Obama credited months of intelligence work for determining Bin Laden’s location in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Bin Laden was killed in a firefight after a targeted assault was launched on a compound in the city by a small team of U.S. operatives.
Bin Laden’s body was recovered by American forces.
In his address Sunday night, Obama said, “The death of Bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat Al-Qaeda.”
The death of Bin Laden has the potential to serve as a turning point in the war in Afghanistan. However, Obama said, “His death does not mark the end of our effort. There’s no doubt that Al-Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must – and we will — remain vigilant at home and abroad.”
Reports have not been made on the fate of Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri at this time.
Channing Hailey can be reached at channing.hailey@spartans.ut.edu
