On August 22, 2011, “a U.S. drone missile fired into North Waziristan in Pakistan and killed Al Qaeda’s newly appointed number two, the Libyan-born Atiya abd al-Rahman. He was considered a key aide first to Bin Laden and now to his successor, Ayman al-Zawahri, and his death was a major blow.”
– Ahmed Rashid, Pakistan on the Brink, Page 11