Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, 58, who was believed to be Al Qaeda's second-highest leader, was shot and killed by two assassins on August 7 in Iran, intelligence officials confirmed.
No country has publicly claimed responsibility for killing Abdullah. Al Qaeda has yet to announce Abdullah's death.
Officials say Israeli operatives carried out the attack. It is unclear what role the U.S. played in Abdullah's killing.
🔦 Abdullah was listed as a "Most Wanted Terrorist" by the F.B.I. for:
- Murder of U.S. nationals outside the United States
- Conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals outside the United States
- Attack on a federal facility resulting in death
- Conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, to murder, to destroy buildings and property of the United States, and to destroy the national defense utilities of the United States
Abdullah is accused of being one of the masterminds behind attacks on American embassies in Africa in 1998.
The U.S. also indicted him for crimes connected to bombings of U.S. embassies that killed 224 people and wounded hundreds in Kenya and Tanzania.
