US Takes out Al Qaeda’s Second-in-Command

He's not the Libyan bad guy everyone was hoping to take out this week, but it’s still a pretty big deal.

So long, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman. A C.I.A. drone in Pakistan has reportedly taken out Al Qaeda’s second-highest ranked leader and top operational planner. Rahman, a Libyan believed to be tight with Osama Bin Laden, was considered a top candidate to take control of Al Qaeda (until he was killed by the drone, of course.) The C.I.A. discovered how frequently Bin Laden transmitted messages to Rahman after reviewing electronic files at Casa Bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. U.S. officials report that he played a major role in the transmission of communications across Al Qaeda, which is why he was dubbed Enemy #2 after Bin Laden’s successor Ayman al-Zawahri.

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