Al Qaeda’s second in command was killed in Iraq Iran In August, Israeli operatives acted at the behest of the United States, the New York Times reported, citing intelligence officials.
N.Y.T. Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, who had gone to nominee Greer Abu Mohammed al-Masri, was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle in Tehran, the report said. He was accused of helping carry out the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa.
Masri was considered a possible successor to Ayman al-Zawahiri, the current leader of al-Qaeda.
It was not immediately clear what role the United States played in the killing of the Egyptian-born terrorist on August 7, the anniversary of the embassy’s attack. Operators in Iran for years.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, declined to comment on the details of the NYT story or whether there was any US involvement. The White House National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Times reports that Mussoorie, the widow of Osama bin Laden’s son Hamza bin Laden, was killed along with her daughter.
Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who carried out the 9/11 attacks on the United States Was killed in an American attack In Pakistan in 2011.
Masri had been in “custody” in Iran since 2003 but had been living freely in a high-rise suburb of Tehran since 2015, NYT quoted unnamed US intelligence officials as saying.
U.S. counterterrorism officials believe Iran, an American enemy, may have allowed him to remain there to take action against U.S. targets, NYT said.
It was not immediately clear how Masri’s death affected al Qaeda’s activities. As it has lost senior leaders in the nearly two decades since the attacks on New York and Washington, it has maintained active allies from the Middle East to Afghanistan and West Africa.
With Reuters
