Al-Qaeda weapons expert believed killed in Pakistan

Another one bites, or is turned into, dust.



afp.google.com...


A top Al-Qaeda expert on chemical and biological weapons is believed to have been killed Monday in a suspected US missile strike in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas, security officials said.

Egyptian militant Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, had a five-million-US-dollar bounty on his head and allegedly ran terrorist training camps in Afghanistan.

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 bordering Afghanistan.

"We believe he was killed in this strike," a senior intelligence official based in the northwestern city of Peshawar told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"It was his hide-out and information that has been shared with us says he was targeted in this strike."

There was no immediate confirmation from the US-led coalition in Afghanistan or from Washington.