Al Qaeda’s second-in-command has been killed in a drone strike, the terror group confirmed on Thursday.
Abu Khayr Al Masri, a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden, "was killed during a Crusader drone strike" in Syria, Al Qaeda said in a statement issued by its Maghreb and Yemen branches. It also expressed its condolences to Al Qaeda chief Ayman Al Zawahiri.
A US intelligence official said Al Masri, 59, was killed on Sunday when a Hellfire missile fired by a CIA drone hit his car near Idlib city, capital of the north-western province of the same name.
Al Masri’s presence in Idlib underscores the importance that Syria has gained in Al Qaeda’s strategy, analysts said. The US has escalated its bombing campaign in the province and reported killing 11 Al Qaeda operatives there in early February.
The province is mostly under the control of Jabhat Fatah Al Sham, Al Qaeda’s former Syrian branch until it ostensibly severed ties with the terror group last year.
Al Masri, also known as Abdullah Muhammad Rajab Abdulrahman, joined Al Zawahiri in the Egyptian Islamic Jihad group in the 1980s before they enlisted with Bin Laden in the 1990s.
US intelligence believe Al Masri was involved in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
He was detained with several other Al Qaeda figures in 2003 in Iran and held until 2015, when they released in exchange for an Iranian diplomat who had been seized by Al Qaeda’s Yemen branch.
Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute described Al Masri as "jihadi royalty", a longstanding member of Al Qaeda’s central Shura Council and "one of Ayman Al Zawahiri’s closest long-time confidants".
He was one of the most prominent figures in Al Qaeda to have roots in the era before the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to the Soufan Group, a private security and intelligence consultancy.
"It was in Masri’s guesthouse in Kabul, Afghanistan, that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed briefed top Al Qaeda leaders about the planning of the September 11, 2001 attacks," the Soufan Group said.
Al Masri’s death could prove a major security coup for US president Donald Trump, who has put tackling so-called "radical Islamic extremism" at the top of his agenda. He is considering a review of the fight against ISIL, aiming to intensify the campaign, and is poised to revive efforts to ban travel from certain Muslim-majority countries.
According to US treasury department sanctions, Al Masri was previously responsible for coordinating Al Qaeda’s work "with other terrorist organisations."

Source: The National