A U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan last month killed a top al Qaeda leader, the Pentagon confirmed Friday evening.
“We can now confirm that the precision strike conducted by the U.S. military on Oct. 23 in Kunar, Afghanistan, resulted in the death of senior al-Qaeda leader Faruq al-Qatani,” Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement.
Al-Qatani had served as the terrorist organization’s leader in northeastern Afghanistan. He had been in charge of re-establishing safe havens in the country as well as overseeing plots against the U.S.
“This successful strike is another example of U.S. operations to degrade international terrorist networks and target terrorist leaders who seek to attack the U.S. homeland, our interests and our allies abroad,” Cook added. “Another al-Qaeda leader in Afghanistan, Bilal al-Utabi, was also targeted in a separate strike. We are still assessing the results of that strike.”
