The US state department described Abdul Basit Usman as a bomb-making expert. (BBC)
Filipino terrorist and bomb expert Abdul Basit Usman was killed in a drone attack near the Afghan border earlier this month. Officials reported this news on Thursday.
The Daily Times reported:
A Filipino militant wanted by the US is believed to have been killed in a drone strike in the Tribal Areas close to the Afghan border earlier this month, intelligence officials said on Thursday.
If confirmed, the death of Abdul Basit Usman would represent another success for the covert programme of missile strikes that the US has carried out since 2008. There have been an unprecedented number of attacks in Pakistan’s Tribal Areas this month following a deadly December 30 attack on a CIA base in Afghanistan.
Two military intelligence officers in the NWFP said Usman was believed killed on January 14. Another 11 militants were also killed in the strike on a militant compound. Authorities have previously said the attack had targeted Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud.
