WASHINGTON – Al-Qaeda’s chief of operations in Pakistan has been killed in a CIA drone strike, according to two US officials. They identified the target of the drone attack as Abu Hafs al Shahri, a Saudi national who had been serving as the senior figure in al-Qaeda’s central command in charge of dealing with operations inside of Pakistan. The strike occurred in Pakistan’s tribal areas within the last few days, the officials said, but they declined to provide more precise details.
As al-Qaeda’s Pakistan operations chief, one of the officials said, al Shahri’s responsibilities included co-ordinating the activities of al-Qaeda’s depleted central leadership with Pakistan’s principal network of Taliban militants, the TTP.
“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 [Ayman] Zawahiri,” one official said. – (Reuters)