US Air Strike Kills Senior Al Qaeda Commander

The Pentagon has confirmed that a US drone strike in Afghanistan killed an al Qaeda commander who planned a deadly hotel attack in Islamabad in 2008 and the 2009 attack on a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team.

Officials say Qari Yasin was a senior terrorist figure from Balochistan, Pakistan, responsible for the deaths of two American service personnel, who were among the dozens of victims of the bombing of the Marriot Hotel in Islamabad.

The air strike that led to his death was conducted on March 19 in Paktika province, Afghanistan.

In a statement given yesterday, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said:

"The death of Qari Yasin is evidence that terrorists who defame Islam and deliberately target innocent people will not escape justice."

The two American service members killed in 2008 were Air Force Major Rodolfo Rodriguez, of El Paso, Texas, and Navy Cryptologic Technician Petty Officer Matthew O'Bryant, of Theodore, Alabama.

The bus attack in the Pakistani city of Lahore killed six policemen and two civilians and wounded six members of the cricket team.