Islamabad/Washington: Atiyah Abdul-ur-Rahman, a commander of the Al Qaeda, has been killed in a drone attack in North Waziristan in Pakistan, claimed US officials on Saturday.
A senior US official said that Rahman was killed in Waziristan on August 22, a British television channel reported. He said the Libyan man had been involved in directing operations for Al-Qaeda. He did not divulge the exact circumstances of his death.
Local officials in the tribal region however told AFP last week that a US drone strike on August 22 on a vehicle in North Waziristan killed at least four militants.
According to US State Department, he was affiliated with two Libyan militant groups, which merged with Al Qaeda after its declaration of war against America in 1998.
He was given the responsibility to coordinate with anti-America Muslim groups across the world.
US had declared more than $1 million head money on him.
It was earlier reported that he had been killed in a drone attack in North Waziristan on October 2010.
The senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the death of Rahman would be deeply felt by Al-Qaeda because the group’s new leader Ayman al-Zawahiri had relied on him since the killing of Osama bin Laden.
According to media reports Atiya Abdul Rahman was on the list of five militant leaders the Untied States has asked Pakistan to provide intelligence about immediately and possibly target in joint operations. American Television channel ABC News said the list, conveyed during a visit to Islamabad by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, also included Bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman al Zawahiri, Ilyas Kashmiri, Haqqani network commander Sirajuddin Haqqani, and Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar.
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