U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan targeted two Al Qaeda leaders, including one described by a Pentagon official as the group’s top leader in the country, the U.S. military announced late Wednesday.
(FOX)- The airstrikes — from unmanned aircraft — unfolded at roughly the same time against two separate compounds last Sunday evening, both in remote areas of Kunar Province, a U.S. official told Fox News.
U.S. officials were still working to determine whether the men targeted were killed, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook announced in a statement. He identified the two men as Faruq al-Qatani and Bilal al-Utabi.
Cook said al-Qatani was a senior planner for attacks against the U.S. and had a hand in deadly attacks on U.S. forces. He had ties to Usama Bin Laden and was seeking to reestablish Al Qaeda’s control over Afghanistan, the U.S. official said.
The Pentagon had been searching for al-Qatani for four years. The U.S. fired multiple Hellfire missiles on each compound, apparenly “leveling” them, according to the official.
Declassified files recovered during the raid on bin Laden’s compound included a slew of references to al-Qatani, the official added, saying he was deeply involved in moving Al Qaeda fighters from northern Pakistan into Afghanistan for several years.