Al-Qaeda Confirms Death of Second-in-Command in US Airstrike

Al-Qaeda confirmed on March 2 that Abu Khayr al-Masri, described as the second-in-command of the group, was killed in a US-led coalition drone strike in Idlib, Syria. In a statement released by the group's Arabian Peninsula and Maghreb branch, it was stated that al-Masri was killed 'treacherously' during the American drone attack. US officials say al-Masri was killed on February 26 when a CIA-operated drone fired a Hellfire missile at a vehicle near Idlib city in northwestern Syria. The AGM-114 Hellfire missile is an air-to-surface, anti-armor, and precision-guided missile. The Idlib region of Syria is a stronghold for the 'Jabhat al-Nusra' group, a branch of al-Qaeda that has now changed its name to 'Fateh al-Sham.' The Syrian ceasefire does not include this group, which is recognized as 'terrorist' by the United Nations. Last month in Idlib, another senior and long-standing al-Qaeda member, Abu Hani al-Masri, was targeted and killed. However, the recent casualty - who also has Egyptian ancestry - was the son-in-law of the deceased leader Osama bin Laden and one of the closest individuals to Ayman al-Zawahiri, the current leader of al-Qaeda. Abu Khayr al-Masri, Abdullah Muhammad Rajab Abdulrahman, was 59 years old; he was one of the old commanders of al-Qaeda and had a guesthouse in Kabul during the time when Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was discussing the September 11 attacks plan with bin Laden. Analysts say his presence and that of other al-Qaeda leaders in Idlib indicate the 'strategic importance' that Syria has gained for al-Qaeda. The Syrian civil war, with hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced, continues without a political solution.