The United States said on Saturday that al Qaeda’s number two leader Atiyah abd al-Rahman had been killed in Pakistan, in what it said was another “tremendous blow” to the extremist group.
A senior US official said that Rahman was killed in North Waziristan on August 22 and had been deeply involved in directing operations for al Qaeda, but 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.
The senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 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.
“The trove of materials from Bin Laden’s compound showed clearly that (Rahman) was deeply involved in directing al Qaeda’s operations even before the raid,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“He had multiple responsibilities in the organisation and will be very difficult to replace.”