Al-Qaeda Weapons and Poison Expert Killed – Pakistan
July 29, 2008 by national
Filed under World Report
Al-Qaeda’s top expert on chemical and biological weapons is believed to have been killed in a suspected US missile strike in Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas on Monday, security officials said.
Egyptian militant Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, had a $ 5 million bounty on his head. He allegedly trained hundreds of extremists at camps in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region.
Both the US-led coalition and a separate NATO force in Afghanistan have said they were not involved in the missile strike. However, the US Central Intelligence Agency is also known to operate drones in the region.
Officials earlier said that three Arab militants and three Pakistani boys were killed when missiles fired by a suspected US drone hit a house attached to a mosque in the South Waziristan tribal district.
“We believe he was killed in this strike,” a senior intelligence official based in the northwestern city of Peshawar said on condition of anonymity.
“It was his hideout and information that has been shared with us says he was targeted in this strike.”
Umar’s wife and children were believed to have been injured in the attack, Pakistani officials said. Residents said the victims of the missile strike were hastily buried in the hours after the attack.
