The Long War Journal - Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2011

Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2012

Created by Bill Roggio & Alexander Mayer

Since 2004, the US has been conducting a covert program to target and kill al Qaeda and Taliban commanders based in Pakistan's lawless northwest. The program has targeted top al Qaeda leaders, al Qaeda's external operations network, and Taliban leaders and fighters that threaten both the Afghan and Pakistani states. See LWJ report, "Analysis: US air campaign in Pakistan heats up" for more details on the program and its effects. Also see "Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2012" for the data on the airstrikes.

Information on this page will be updated after each strike. This page was last updated on Jan. 26, 2012.

Killed in 2012:

Abu Yahya al Libi
Abu Yahya was a Libyan citizen, and served as al Qaeda's chief of staff and senior cleric and ideologue.
Date killed: June 4, 2012.

Abu Usman Adil
Abu Usman Adil was the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and spearhead the expansion of the group's operations in Afghanistan.
Date killed: April 29, 2012.

Badr Mansoor
Mansoor, a Pakistani citizen, served as al Qaeda's leader in Pakistan and a key link to the Taliban and Pakistani jihadist groups.
Date killed: Feb. 9, 2012.

Aslam Awan
Awan, who is also known as Abdullah Khorasani, is a deputy to the leader of al Qaeda's external operations network and a Pakistani citizen.
Date killed: Jan. 11, 2012.

Killed in 2011:

Hazrat Omar, Khan Mohammed, Miraj Wazir, and Ashfaq Wazir
Omar was Mullah Nazir's brother who served as the group's operational commander in Afghanistan. Mohammed, a senior deputy to Nazir. Miraj Wazir and Ashfaq Wazir were senior commanders.
Date killed: Oct. 27, 2011.

Ahmed Omar Abdul Rahman
A senior al Qaeda operative with ties to the Haqqani Network. Rahman was a son of the 'Blind Sheikh,' the spiritual leader of the Egyptian Islamic Group who is in prison in the US for his involvement in the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center.
Date killed: Oct. 14, 2011.

Abu Miqdad al Masri
A member of al Qaeda's Shura Majlis who also was involved in al Qaeda's external operations.
Date killed: Oct. 13-14, 2011 (exact date is unclear)

Abd al Rahman al Yemeni
A senior operative who was involved in al Qaeda's external operations network.
Date killed: Oct. 13-14, 2011 (exact date is unclear).

Jan Baz Zadran
Siraj Haqqani's deputy who served as the number three for the terror network.
Date killed: Oct. 13, 2011.

Haleem Ullah
A deputy commander to North Waziristan Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadar.
Date killed: Sept. 30, 2011.

Abu Hafs al Shahri
A senior al Qaeda leader who served as the operations chief for Pakistan.
Date killed: Sept. 11, 2011.

Atiyah Abd al Rahman
A senior al Qaeda leader who served as Osama bin Laden's chief of staff and a top operational commander.
Date killed: Aug. 22, 2011.

Ilyas Kashmiri (Unconfirmed)
The leader of al Qaeda's Lashkar al Zil and the operational commander of the Harkat ul Jihad-i-Islami. He also was a member of al Qaeda's external operatiosn council.
Date killed: June 3, 2011.

Abu Zaid al Iraqi
A senior al Qaeda operative who served as the top financial officer in Pakistan.
Date killed: Feb. 20, 2011.

Killed in 2010:

Ibn Amin
A senior al Qaeda and Taliban military commander who led forces in Swat in Pakistan.
Date reported killed: Dec. 17, 2010.

Sheikh Fateh al Masri
Al Qaeda's leader in Afghanistan and Pakistan (or the Khorasan).
Date reported killed: Sept. 25, 2010.

Saifullah Haqqani
A Haqqani Network military commander in Afghanistan and a cousin of Siraj Haqqani. Date reported killed: Sept. 14, 2010.

Qureshi
An Islamic Jihad Group commander who trained Germans and other foreigners in North Waziristan and then sent them back to their home countries.
Date reported killed: Sept. 8, 2010.

Inayatullah
A Taliban military commander based in North Waziristan.
Date reported killed: Sept. 3, 2010.

Abu Ahmed
An al Qaeda military commander who conducted operations in Afghanistan.
Date killed: June 19, 2010.

Sheikh Ihsanullah
An al Qaeda military commander who conducted operations in Afghanistan.
Date killed: June 10, 2010.

Ibrahim
The commander of the Fursan-i-Mohammed Group, an al Qaeda group based in North Waziristan.
Date killed: June 10, 2010.

Osama bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Damjan al Dawsari
A senior operative and key link with the Taliban in South Waziristan, Pakistan. He also facilitated operations in Afghanistan.
Date killed: May 28, 2010.

Mustafa Abu Yazid
Yazid, who is also known and Sheikh Saeed al Masri, is al Qaeda's leader in Afghanistan and top financial official.
Date killed: May 21, 2010.

Sadam Hussein Al Hussami
A senior operative in al Qaeda's external operations network who was involved in the suicide attack that killed seven CIA officials in Khost. Hussami is also known as Ghazwan al Yemeni.
Date killed: March 8, 2010.

Qari Mohammad Zafar
A leader of the al Qaeda and Taliban-linked Fedayeen-i-Islam wanted by the US for attacking the US Consulate in karachi in 2006
Date killed: February 24, 2010.

Mohammed Haqqani
A mid-level Haqqani Network military commander and brother of the group's top military commander Siraj Haqqani.
Date killed: February 18, 2010.

Sheikh Mansoor 
An al Qaeda Shadow Army commander who was based in North Waziristan and operated in eastern Afghanistan.
Date killed: February 17, 2010.

Abdul Haq al Turkistani
A member of al Qaeda's Shura Majlis and the leader of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Party.
Date killed: February 14, 2010.

Abdul Basit Usman
The US has a $1 million bounty on Abdul Basit Usman, an Abu Sayyaf master bomb maker, for conducting attacks that murdered civilians. Usman's death is unconfirmed, however.
Date thought killed: January 14, 2010.

Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim An Abu Nidal Organization operative who participated in killing 22 hostages during the 1986 hijacking of Pan Am flight 73.
Date reported killed: January 9, 2010.

Mansur al Shami
An al Qaeda ideologue and aide to Mustafa Abu Yazid.
Date killed: Exact date is not known, he was last seen on As Sahab on January 4, 2010.

Killed in 2009:

Haji Omar Khan
A senior Taliban leader in North Waziristan.
Date killed: December 31, 2010

Abdullah Said al Libi
The top commander of the Lashkar al Zil, al Qaeda's Shadow Army.
Date thought killed: December 17, 2009 (exact date is not known)

Zuhaib al Zahib
A commander in the Lashkar al Zil, al Qaeda's Shadow Army.
Date killed: December 17, 2009

Saleh al Somali
The leader of al Qaeda's external network.
Date killed: December 8, 2009

Abu Musa al Masri
A senior al Qaeda explosive expert and trainer.
Date killed: October 21, 2009

Najmuddin Jalolov
The leader of the Islamic Jihad Group, a breakaway faction of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
Najmuddin was closely allied with al Qaeda.
Date killed: September 14, 2009

Maulvi Ismail Khan
A military commander in the Haqqani Network.
Date killed: September 8, 2009

Mustafa al Jaziri
A senior military commander for al Qaeda who sits on al Qaeda's military shura.
Date killed: September 7, 2009

Tahir Yuldashev 
The leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
Date killed: August 27, 2009

Baitullah Mehsud
The overall leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan.
Date killed: August 5, 2009

Kifayatullah Anikhel
A Taliban commander under Baitullah Mehsud.
Date killed: July 7, 2009

Mufti Noor Wali
A suicide bomber trainer for the Taliban and al Qaeda.
Date killed: July 3, 2009

Khwaz Ali Mehsud
A senior deputy to Baitullah Mehsud.
Date killed: June 23, 2009

Abdullah Hamas al Filistini
A senior al Qaeda trainer.
Date killed: April 1, 2009

Osama al Kini (aka Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam)
Al Qaeda's operations chief for Pakistan who was wanted for the 1998 bombings against the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Date killed: January 1, 2009

Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan
A senior aide to Osama al Kini who was wanted for the 1998 bombings against the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Date killed: January 1, 2009

Killed in 2008:

Abu Zubair al Masri
Served as an explosives expert for al Qaeda as well as a leader.
Date killed: November 21, 2008

Abdullah Azzam al Saudi
Served as liaison between al Qaeda and the Taliban operating in Pakistan's northwest. Azzam facilitated al Qaeda's external operations network. He also served as a recruiter and trainer for al Qaeda.
Date killed: November 19, 2008

Abu Jihad al Masri
The leader of the Egyptian Islamic Group and the chief of al Qaeda's intelligence branch, and directed al Qaeda's intelligence shura. He directed al Qaeda's external operations in Egypt.
Date killed: October 31, 2008

Khalid Habib
The commander of the Lashkar al Zil or the Shadow Army, al Qaeda's paramilitary forces in Pakistan's northwest and Afghanistan.
Date killed: October 16, 2008

Abu al Hasan al Rimi
A senior al Qaeda operative.
Date killed: October 2008 - exact date unknown

Abu Ubaidah al Tunisi
An al Qaeda military commander who fought against the Russians in Afghanistan.
Date killed: September 17, 2008

Abu Musa
An al Qaeda operative from Saudi Arabia.
Date killed: September 8, 2008

Abu Qasim
An al Qaeda operative from Egypt.
Date killed: September 8, 2008

Abu Hamza
An explosives expert from Saudi Arabia who served as al Qaeda's commander in Peshawar.
Date killed: September 8, 2008

Abu Haris
A senior al Qaeda military commander from Syria who led more than 250 Arab and Afghan fighters under the guise of the Jaish al Mahdi in Helmand province. He became al Qaeda's operations chief in the tribal areas in 2008.
Date killed: September 8, 2008

Abu Wafa al Saudi
An al Qaeda commander and logistician.
Date killed: September 4, 2008

Abdul Rehman
A local Taliban commander in the Wana region in South Waziristan.
Date killed: August 13, 2008

Abu Khabab al Masri
The chief of al Qaeda's weapons of mass destruction program and a master bomb maker.
Date killed: July 28, 2008

Abu Mohammad Ibrahim bin Abi al Faraj al Masri
A religious leader, close to Abu Khabab al Masri.
Date killed: July 28, 2008

Abdul Wahhab al Masri
A senior aide to Abu Khabab al Masri.
Date killed: July 28, 2008

Abu Islam al Masri
Aide to Abu Khabab al Masri.
Date killed: July 28, 2008

Abu Sulayman Jazairi
The chief of al Qaeda's external network. Jazairi was a senior trainer, an explosives expert, and an operational commander tasked with planning attacks on the West.
Date killed: May 14, 2008

Dr. Arshad Waheed (aka Sheikh Moaz)
A mid-level al Qaeda leader.
Date killed: March 16, 2008

Abu Laith al Libi
Senior military commander in Afghanistan and the leader of the reformed Brigade 055 in al Qaeda's paramilitary Shadow Army.
Date killed: January 29, 2008

Killed in 2007:

No senior al Qaeda or Taliban leaders or operatives were reported killed during the strikes in 2007.

Killed in 2006:

Liaquat Hussain
Second-in-command of the Bajaur TNSM.
Date killed: October 30, 2006

Imam Asad
Camp commander for the Black Guard, al Qaeda's elite bodyguard for Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri. Asad was a Chechen with close links to Shamil Basayev.
Date killed: March 1, 2006

Killed in 2005:

Abu Hamza Rabia
Al Qaeda's operational commander. He was involved with two assassination plots against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
Date killed: December 1, 2005

Killed in 2004:

Nek Mohammed
A senior Taliban commander in South Waziristan who had links to Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar.
Date killed: June 18, 2004

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/pakistan-strikes-hvts.php#ixzz23dCTbyTJ