Al Qaeda’s chief of operations in Pakistan Abu Hafs al-Shahri has been killed, a senior US official said Thursday, revealing the latest blow to the terror group’s senior leadership. The death of Abu Hafs in a Pakistani tribal district follows the killing of al Qaeda’s number two Atiyah abd al-Rahman last month, and comes amid stepped up US drone strikes following the killing of Osama bin Laden in May.
“It has been confirmed that al Qaeda’s chief of Pakistani operations, Abu Hafs al-Shahri, was killed earlier this week in Waziristan, Pakistan,” the official said on condition of anonymity. “Abu Hafs’ death will further degrade al Qaeda’s ability to recover from the death last month of al Qaeda’s number two, Atiyah, because of his operations experience and connections within the group,” the official added. “Abu Hafs’ death removes a key threat inside Pakistan, where he collaborated closely with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan to conduct coordinated attacks.” Security officials in Pakistan told AFP earlier this week that a US drone strike killed at least four militants in Waziristan. It was unclear if the attack was the one which killed Abu Hafs. In Sunday’s strike, on the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, an unmanned aircraft fired two missiles, hitting a vehicle and a house in Hisokhel village in the North Waziristan Agency.
NATO thwarts 9/11 Taliban attacks: Meanwhile, the head of the international forces said NATO thwarted a series of planned attacks in Afghanistan aimed at coinciding with the 9/11 anniversary. In the wake of the brazen assault on the Afghan capital which left at least 15 dead, British Army Major General Tim Evans, head of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Joint Command, said insurgents had planned a much bigger effort. “We do believe that (Taliban forces) were trying to do an attack on the anniversary of 9/11 and actually we thwarted a number of attacks,” he told a teleconference with reporters at the Pentagon. Evans acknowledged that the dramatic attack was “a spectacular tactical action” but said “it didn’t reach any of the government buildings, it didn’t achieve any of their aims.”
