US strike in Pakistan killed four top Al-Qaeda men: Report

Washington, Jan 9 (DPA) A Jan 1 strike from an unmanned US drone in Pakistan killed four top al-Qaeda operatives, including a suspect in both last year's Islamabad hotel attack and the 1998 truck bombings against US embassies in Africa, the Washington Post reported on its website early Friday.

The report cited US counter-terrorism officials with access to secret reports, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Usama al-Kini, originally from Kenya, was among Al-Qaeda suspects killed in a drone missile strike against a target in South Waziristan in Pakistan's border area with Afghanistan, the officials said.

He was described as the terrorist network's chief of operations in Pakistan and is believed to have been the main planner of the 1998 Africa embassy bombings and the September attack on the Marriott hotel in Islamabad.

Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, al-Kini's lieutenant, was also killed in the strike, the report said.

Both were among the United States' most-wanted terrorism suspects, each listed with a reward of up to $ 5 million for aiding their capture.