Al Qaeda’s commander, alleged to have masterminded the deadly 1998 attacks on US embassy in Nairobi has been killed.
Intelligence officials have confirmed, according to an article by The New York Times that the suspect was killed in Iran three months ago.
Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, alias de guerre Abu Muhammad al-Masri, was gunned down on the streets of Tehran by two assassins on a motorcycle on August 7, the anniversary of the embassy attacks.
He was killed along with his daughter, Miriam, the widow of Osama bin Laden’s son Hamza bin Laden.
According to the report, Intelligence officials confirmed that the attack was carried out by Israeli operatives at the behest of the United States.
“The killing occurred in such a netherworld of geopolitical intrigue and counterterrorism spycraft that Mr. al-Masri’s death had been rumored but never confirmed until now. For reasons that are still obscure, Al Qaeda has not announced the death of one of its top leaders, Iranian officials covered it up, and no country has publicly claimed responsibility for it,” the New York Times article read in part.
The terrorist was one of Al Qaeda’s founding leaders and was second-highest leader after its current leader, Ayman al-Zawahri.
Fifty-eight -year- old Muhammad al-Masri featured on the F.B.I.’s Most Wanted Terrorist list for the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
At least 224 people died with hundreds left to nurse severe injuries.