An American drone attack on Islamic militants in northern Pakistan has killed al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, a Pentagon official confirmed last night.
Abu Yahya al-Libi was among 15 people who died when two volleys of missiles were fired shortly before dawn into a compound in Hesokhel, a village east of Miranshah, the capital of North Waziristan, on Monday.
His death is the biggest blow to al-Qaeda’s leadership since the killing by US special forces of Osama bin Laden on May 2 last year. “There is now no clear successor to take on the breadth of his responsibilities,” Jay Carney, the White House spokesman, said.
He added that information from intelligence sources indicated that al-Libi was al-Qaeda’s “general manager” responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations in the tribal areas of Pakistan and managing relations with affiliates.
Al-Libi, a Libyan, had a $1 million (£650,000) bounty on his head and had been a thorn in the side of the US for more than a decade. He was captured in Afghanistan in 2002 with other fighters, but managed to escape from a high-security US prison on Bagram airbase in 2005 with three cellmates.
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The charismatic al-Qaeda commander, whose real name is Mohamed Hassan Qaid, was born in 1963 and studied chemistry before becoming a militant. He was viewed as a possible successor to bin Laden, although that role passed to Ayman al-Zawahiri.
A theologian and trusted lieutenant of both bin Laden and al-Zawahiri, al-Libi was an important figure in rebuilding al-Qaeda after the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 led to the death of many of the group’s senior commanders1. He wrote extensively to popularise his theories of global jihad and appeared in a string of videos watched by supporters around the globe.
Pakistani officials said yesterday that they had intercepted phone conversations between militants referring to the death of al-Libi, who had been living in the area since his escape from Bagram. “They did not name this person but we have checked with our sources in the area and believe they are referring to al-Libi,” one said.“If he has been killed there is likely to be a big funeral,” another added.An unnamed Pakistani Taleban leader told Reuters that two missiles had hit the house where al-Libi was staying. “Unfortunately, Sheikh sahib \ was martyred. This is a big loss, he was a great scholar. After Doctor sahib \, he was the main al-Qaeda leader,” he said.
Another militant commander in North Waziristan, however, denied that al-Libi had been killed, describing it as a “false claim” by America designed to distract from losses suffered by its forces in Afghanistan. Reports in 2009 that al-Libi had been killed were later found to be untrue.
Local tribal sources told The Times that Hesokhel village was a known stronghold for foreign militants, especially Arabs and Turkmens. Al-Libi had been living in the area since escaping from Afghanistan in 2005, they claimed.
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“The compound which was attacked by drones was known to be the headquarters of al-Qaeda in the area,” said Haq Nawaz Khan, a Peshawar-based authority on the region.
The US has intensified drone attacks recently, killing nearly 30 people in the past four days. “There have been nine or ten drone strikes since Chicago,” said an official, referring to the Nato conference on Afghanistan that ended on May 21.
Four militants were killed on Saturday, another ten on Sunday and 15 in the attack that targeted al-Libi on Monday.
Mr Khan said: “Al-Libi was effectively leading the military and operational activities of al-Qaeda. If the news about his death is correct, it would be a huge loss for the organisation.”
Jarret Brachman, a US scholar and authority on al-Qaeda, wrote on his blog that the death of al-Libi would be a “cataclysmic blow” to the group.
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The US State Department’s Rewards for Justice programme had set a $1 million bounty for information leading to al-Libi’s whereabouts.
His death is likely to reinforce US claims that its campaign of drone attacks is working and helping to destroy militant networks in Pakistan’s tribal belt. They were suspended last year after the US accidentally killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.