MOGADISHU:
The presumed head of al Qaeda in east Africa, Fazul Abdullah Muhammad, wanted for blowing up the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, died this week in a Mogadishu shootout, officials said on Saturday. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said his death was a major setback for the group and its affiliates.
“It is a just end for a terrorist who brought so much death and pain to so many innocents in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam and elsewhere,” said Clinton.
The 38-year-old is thought to have planned the massive truck bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam that killed 224 people in 1998 and had a $5 million bounty on his head. “We have confirmed by DNA tests carried out with our partners that it definitely was Fazul Abdullah,” an official at Somalia’s National Security Agency said. A commander of Somalia’s rebel Al Shebab movement said earlier this week that Fazul was among two men killed near Mogadishu.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 12th, 2011.
COMMENTS (3)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ