MIRANSHAH, Pakistan — A senior al Qaeda figure from Abbottabad — the town where Osama bin Laden was found hiding last year — was reportedly killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan last week, a US official confirmed to FOX News Channel.
Four militants in the town of Miranshah in the North Waziristan tribal region were also killed, according to eyewitness reports.
US and Pakistani sources said the target of the attack was Aslam Awan, a Pakistani national, who they described as a significant figure in the remaining leadership of al Qaeda.
“Aslam Awan, also known as Abdullah Khorsani, was a senior al Qaeda external operations planner who was working on attacks against the West,” the US official said.
Pakistani officials would not confirm that Awan was killed in the attack.
“His death reduces al Qaeda’s thinning bench of another operative devoted to plotting the death of innocent civilians,” the US official said.
US officials told FOX that the drone strike was the first in the region since a November NATO cross-border air attack last year left 24 Pakistani troops dead.
Former al Qaeda leader bin Laden was killed last May in Abbottabad in a raid by US Navy Seals.