http://counterterror.typepad.com/the_counterterrorism_blog/2005/12/reports_senior_.html
December 03, 2005
"Reports: Senior Saudi Al-Qaida Member Sets Off Suicide Blast in Dagestan"
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "According to various reports from credible mujahideen sources, Abu Omar Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Saif (a.k.a. Mohammed bin Abdullah bin Saif al-Jaber)--a top tier Saudi Arabian Al-Qaida commander in Chechnya and personal military advisor to Shamil Basayev--has been killed during a Russian counterterrorism operation in neighboring Dagestan. Unable to escape after Russian soldiers backed by helicopters surrounded his temporary hideout, Abu Omar allegedly detonated an explosive device he was carrying and collapsed the building on top of himself. Known as the "Imam of the Chechen mujahideen", Abu Omar was an original founder of the Arab-Afghan mujahideen movement in Chechnya and was named by Russian officials as a suspect in numerous Caucasus-linked terrorist attacks, including the Moscow theatre siege and the Beslan school hostage massacre."
http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/03/top4.htm
"‘Senior Al Qaeda commander killed ’"
By Ismail Khan
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "PESHAWAR, Dec 2: A senior Al Qaeda commander has been killed in the Thursday missile attack at a house in the North Waziristan Agency, sources said.
The sources said that Al Qaeda operational commander Hamza Rabia, said to be of Syrian origin, was among the five killed in the missile attack on a mud-house in Asoray village in Mirali tehsil, to the east of North Waziristan’s regional headquarters, Miranshah.
Officials and tribal witnesses said that among those killed were three foreigners of Middle-Eastern origin. While the administration in Miranshah claimed the casualties were the result of an explosion inside the house, tribal witnesses insist that a hail of missiles fired from unmanned air vehicle struck the house at around 1.45 am.
A drone is usually armed with two hellfire missiles and judging from the six explosions, the locals claimed they had heard, it is possible that more than two UAVs took part in the Thursday’s action."