Covert

CIA Targeted Major Al Qaeda Leader

Drone strike in Pakistan kills at least five.

A CIA drone strike in Pakistan targeted al Qaeda’s second in command, Abu Yahia al-Libi, on Monday, though it was not clear if he was actually killed. Al-Libi took over as al Qaeda’s second-in-command after Osama bin Laden was killed and he reportedly runs day-to-day operations in Pakistan. U.S. officials said that the drone strike killed five people and that they were “optimistic” that al-Libi was one of them. However, Pakistani officials claim more than a dozen people were killed. Pakistan has called for an end to the CIA’s drone program, but one expert said that al-Libi’s killing would be “another reason not to accept Pakistan’s demand for an end to drone wars.”