Washington, Aug 2 (TIWN) The US killed top Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike in Afghanistan over the weekend dealing the terrorist group a major blow, confirms President Joe Biden.

The strike, carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency, was confirmed by five people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity before Biden was set to brief the American people on the details of the operation in a 7:30 pm EDT address to the nation on Monday.

Current and former officials began hearing Sunday afternoon that al-Zawahri had been killed in a drone strike, but the administration delayed releasing the information until his death could be confirmed, according to one person. 

White House officials declined to confirm al-Zawahri was killed but noted in a statement that the United States conducted a "successful" counterterrorism operation against a significant al-Qaida target, adding that "there were no civilian casualties."