The US State Department has issued a “worldwide caution” alert to warn of “a higher potential for anti-American violence” that may take place following the death of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri over the weekend.
The alert released on Tuesday night reads that “current information suggests that terrorist organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks against US interests in multiple regions across the globe.”
According to the document, “these attacks may employ a wide variety of tactics including suicide operations, assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, and bombings.”
In this vein, the State Department underscored that “US citizens are strongly encouraged to maintain a high level of vigilance and practice good situational awareness when traveling abroad.”
The alert counseled Americans abroad to check the State Department site for travel advisories, watch local news for updates and stay connected to US embassies and consulates in the destination country.
The State Department has not yet commented on the alert, which came 24 hours after President Joe Biden announced that last Saturday, the US “successfully concluded an air strike in Kabul, Afghanistan that killed” a-l-Zawahiri.
POTUS also stressed that the success of the counterterrorism operation ensures that Afghanistan will "never again ... become a terrorist safe haven because [Zawahiri] is gone."
He descried the al-Qaeda leader as a person, who “carved a trail of murder and violence against American citizens, American service members, American diplomats, and American interests.”
The 71-year-old al-Zawahiri took over al-Qaeda after the death of Bin Laden in 2011. The two jointly plotted the 9/11 terrorist attacks that occurred in 2001, claiming the lives of almost 3,000 people.
*a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries