Pakistan

Al-Qaeda propaganda chief killed

Article published on the 2008-11-01 Latest update 2008-11-03 10:58 TU

Protesters in Karachi November 1, 2008.

Alleged Al-Qaeda media propaganda chief, Abu Jihad al-Masri, has been killed in one of two separate missile attacks in Pakistan's Waziristan region on Friday. Security officials in Pakistan said on Saturday that a truck was hit by two missiles, killing al-Masri and two others.

Correspondent Rana Jawad says that Pakistani officials said the vehicle was blown to pieces.

"There was no chance of anyone inside the car surviving the attack", he told RFI.

Jawad says that very little is known about al-Masri and that "he became active in this region only two years ago".

"He was not operational commander as such, not the one that was fighting on the ground," he says.

The United States had offered a one-million-dollar bounty for al-Masri. The US State Department says that he was in charge of media and propaganda for Al-Qaeda.

A separate attack took place on Friday in South Waziristan several hours later. Missiles hit a house outside the town of Wana killing 12 militants and injuring 30 others.