Mitchell: Zawahiri Strike Shows 'Troubling' Fact that Relations Among Terror Groups 'Very Alive and Thriving,' Also Shows Huge Positives

On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Beat,” NBC News Chief Washington Correspondent and Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell reacted to reports that a U.S. drone strike killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri by stating that the fact that Zawahiri was reportedly hiding in a house that was owned by a top aide to senior Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani is a “troubling” indication that “these relationships among the terror groups are still very alive and thriving, even after the fall of Kabul and even after all of the protestations by the Taliban leaders that their leaders would not be connected with terror groups.” But the strike does demonstrate the “extraordinary ability to do over-the-horizon attacks” that was promised by President Joe Biden after the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Mitchell said, “Well, one is very troubling — one factor is troubling, which is that he was apparently found in a Haqqani leadership house, a safe house in Kabul, which means that these relationships among the terror groups are still very alive and thriving, even after the fall of Kabul and even after all of the protestations by the Taliban leaders that their leaders would not be connected with terror groups.”

She continued, “But it does certainly confirm the U.S.’s ability, the extraordinary ability to do over-the-horizon attacks…and that is something that the President promised after the devastating fall of Kabul, the precipitous fall of the government, and the withdrawal, which led to so much criticism. So, approaching the anniversary of the fall of Kabul, which is just two weeks from today, that, certainly, is a significant political benefit, certainly, to the president. And it also shows the military capability. This was apparently CIA to try to give it the protective cover. CIA does have that military capability of a drone attack, not the Pentagon, per se.”

Mitchell concluded, “But it certainly indicates, also, the continuing terror threat inside Afghanistan, something that we’ve seen as the Taliban has taken over and has cracked down, and now we see that these terror groups are still very much alive and well.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett