Abu Hafs al-Shariri, a top al-Qaeda operative within Pakistani territory and a former bodyguard of Osama bin Laden, was reportedly killed in a drone strike carried out by the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency.
If it is officially confirmed the death of the 29-year-old militant of Saudi origin would be the latest in a string of high-profile successes that the U.S.’ drone campaign in the tribal belt of Pakistan has had.
After May’s covert operation, in which al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed, a CIA drone was reported to have killed Ilyas Kashmiri, who was linked to the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and also Libyan al-Qaeda commander Atiyah Abd al-Rahman.
U.S. and Pakistani intelligence agents were also said to have mounted a joint operation to capture senior al-Qaeda figure Younis al-Mauritani in the city of Quetta – according to some media reports, “a sign of a fresh start in a relationship that has been marred by bitter squabbling and public accusations in recent months.”
President Barack Obama’s administration has intensified its drone strikes in recent months and although Pakistani officials regularly and publicly decry the programme as infringing on their sovereignty there is said to be a tacit acceptance of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles to take out such high-value targets in the remote tribal areas.
The New York Times quoted an unnamed U.S. official describing the strike against al-Shariri as, “another blow at the core of al-Qaeda because al-Shariri had been set to take on a more prominent role inside the organisation after the death of al-Rahman, and because al-Qaeda is having ever greater trouble replenishing its senior ranks.”
An official was also quoted as saying that the loss of al-Qaeda’s operations chief would pose a challenge for al-Qaeda’s current leader, Egyptian cleric Ayman al-Zawahri.
