Al Qaeda Chief of Operations in Pakistan Killed

Sept. 15, 2011 — -- Al Qaeda's chief of operations in Pakistan was killed earlier this week, senior administration officials said today.

Abu Hafs al-Shahri, killed in Pakistan's Waziristan region, "played a key operational and administrative role for the group," a senior official told ABC News.

The official said al-Shahri was the terror leader tasked with plotting al Qaeda's anti-U.S. operations in the region and worked with the Pakistani Taliban to launch attacks in Pakistan.

"This is another blow at the core of al Qaeda in Pakistan," the official said.

Al-Shahri's death comes less than a month after al Qaeda's number two commander, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, was taken out also in Pakistan.

READ: Al Qaeda No. 2 Atiyah Abd al-Rahman Killed in Pakistan

After the killing of al Qaeda's founder and longtime leader Osama bin Laden in May, the U.S. has managed to capture or kill several high-profile militants in recent months, including the group's number three commander Sheik Saeed al-Masri and Ilyas Kashmiri, the leader of a violent al Qaeda-connected organization.

Officials did not say how al-Shahri was killed, but three militants were reportedly killed in a drone attack on the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks Sunday.

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