Al Qaeda number two killed in drone attack

Pakistan

Al Qaeda number two killed in drone attack

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Al-Qaeda's No. 2 Atiyah Abd al-Rahman has reportedly been killed.

27 August,2011 11:29 pm

According to reports, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman was killed in Pakistan in another big blow to the terrorist group that the US believes to be on the verge of defeat, a senior Obama administration official said Saturday.The Libyan national who was the networks former operational leader rose to Al Qaedas No. 2 spot after the US killed Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden during a raid on his Pakistan compound in May.As per media report, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said last month that Al Qaedas defeat was within reach if the US could mount a string of successful attacks on the groups weakened leadership.Al-Rahman was killed Aug 22 in the lawless Pakistani tribal region of Waziristan, the official disclosed Saturday on condition of anonymity.The official would not say how al-Rahman was killed. But his death came on the same day that a CIA drone strike was reported in Waziristan.Al-Rahman, believed to be in his mid-30s, was a close confidant of bin Laden and once served as bin Ladens emissary to Iran. Born in Libya, al-Rahman joined bin Laden as a teenager in Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Union.