MIRANSHAH: A senior al Qaeda leader, Shaikh al-Fateh, is believed to have been killed in a suspected US drone strike in a Pakistani tribal region on the Afghan border this week, intelligence officials said on Tuesday.
Al-Fateh was travelling through North Waziristan when his vehicle was hit by a missile on Sept. 26, an intelligence official said.
"Four Arabs were travelling in that vehicle and Shaikh al-Fateh was one of them," the official said only identifying him as an "important al Qaeda" leader.
On Tuesday, a US drone strike killed four militants and destroyed a rebel compound in tribal region along the Afghan border, officials said.
According to LongWarJournal.org, which tracks militant groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan, al-Fateh -- also possibly known as Shaikh Fateh al-Masri -- is the operational commander for al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, having taken over from Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, who was killed in a drone attack in May 2010.
Many al Qaeda members and Taliban fled to northwestern Pakistan's ethnic Pashtun belt after U.S.-led soldiers ousted Afghanistan's Taliban government in 2001.
The United States has stepped up pilotless drone aircraft attacks on suspected militant hideouts in the Pakistani tribal region in recent months, at least 20 in September alone.
Most of the recent strikes took place in North Waziristan, the only one of seven Pakistani tribal regions where the army has not yet launched any big operation against the militants, despite U.S. pressure to do so.
Al-Fateh was travelling through North Waziristan when his vehicle was hit by a missile on Sept. 26, an intelligence official said.
"Four Arabs were travelling in that vehicle and Shaikh al-Fateh was one of them," the official said only identifying him as an "important al Qaeda" leader.
On Tuesday, a US drone strike killed four militants and destroyed a rebel compound in tribal region along the Afghan border, officials said.
According to LongWarJournal.org, which tracks militant groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan, al-Fateh -- also possibly known as Shaikh Fateh al-Masri -- is the operational commander for al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, having taken over from Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, who was killed in a drone attack in May 2010.
Many al Qaeda members and Taliban fled to northwestern Pakistan's ethnic Pashtun belt after U.S.-led soldiers ousted Afghanistan's Taliban government in 2001.
The United States has stepped up pilotless drone aircraft attacks on suspected militant hideouts in the Pakistani tribal region in recent months, at least 20 in September alone.
Most of the recent strikes took place in North Waziristan, the only one of seven Pakistani tribal regions where the army has not yet launched any big operation against the militants, despite U.S. pressure to do so.
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