Al-Qaeda’s operations chief killed by US drone

Al-Qaeda’s chief of operations in Pakistan has been killed in a CIA drone strike, according to US intelligence officials.

They identified the target of the drone attack as Abu Hafs al Shahri, a Saudi national serving as the senior figure in al-Qaeda’s central command in charge of dealing with operations inside of Pakistan.

The drone strike occurred in Pakistan’s tribal areas within the past few days, the officials said.

As al-Qaeda’s Pakistan operations chief, one of the officials said, Shahri’s responsibilities included co-ordinating the central leadership with Pakistan’s principal network of Taleban militants, known as the TTP.

“This is another blow at the core of al-Qaeda in Pakistan,” a US official said. “The loss of their chief of operations in Pakistan, an individual who played a key operational and administrative role for the group, will pose a challenge for [al-Qaeda leader Ayman] Zawahiri.”

Zawahiri is the Egyptian doctor who succeeded Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a US raid earlier this year.

The official said Shahri had been “a contender” to assume some of the duties of Atiyah abd al Rahman, a Libyan killed in an August drone strike. Rahman had reportedly assumed al-Qaeda’s No. 2 leadership role.

The official said al Shahri’s job included co-ordinating al-Qaeda’s “anti-US plotting in the region,” and working closely “with the Pakistani Taleban.”

Another al-Qaeda leader, Younis al Mauretani, was recently captured in Pakistan’s tribal areas in a joint operation staged by US and Pakistani forces.