Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle in Tehran (Representation)
Washington:
Al Qaeda’s second-in-command, accused of helping to organize the 1998 attacks on two US embassies in Africa, was killed in Iran in August by Israeli agents acting at the behest of the United States, reported The New York Times on Friday, citing intelligence officials.
Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, who went by the nom de guerre Abu Muhammad al-Masri, was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle in Tehran more than three months ago, the Times reported.
The murder of Masri, who was seen as a likely successor to current al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, has so far been kept under wraps, the newspaper said.
The role of the United States in the murder of the Egyptian-born terrorist on August 7 was unclear, according to the Times. US authorities had been following Masri and other Al Qaeda operatives in Iran for years, he said.
A US official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, declined to confirm details of the Times story or say whether there was any US involvement. The White House National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Masri was killed along with his daughter, the widow of Osama bin Laden’s son Hamza bin Laden, the Times reported.
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who orchestrated the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, was killed in an American raid on Pakistan in 2011.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
