Mohammed Atef
Mohammed Atef ( Arabic محمد عاطف, DMG Muḥammad ʿĀṭif ; * 1944 in Menufiya / Egypt ; † November 16, 2001 in Kabul ) was a leading head of the Egyptian terrorist organization al-Jihad and a high-ranking member of the Islamist terrorist organization al-Qaeda . He was killed by a US drone during the US invasion of Afghanistan and is the first known victim of a drone attack worldwide.
Atef held a post within the Egyptian police force. He was imprisoned in 1981 for his involvement in the assassination attempt on Anwar al-Sadat . In the early 1990s he joined Al Qaeda bin Laden with Aiman al-Zawahiri . He served in the organization as the coordinator for armed operations. He was accused of being instrumental in planning the 9/11 attacks and the 1998 attacks on US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam . US agencies also suspected that he had been involved in sending fighters to Somalia . These are said to have supported Somali militias at the Battle of Mogadishu , who fought against US troops and blue helmet soldiers. The Somali warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid , however, denied having received help from al-Qaeda.
He also had close family relationships with bin Laden. In December 2000, three months after the attack on the US destroyer USS Cole (DDG-67) , he married his daughter to a son of bin Laden.
Atef was killed on November 16, 2001 in a suburb of Kabul by an AGM-114 Hellfire missile shot down by an MQ-1 Predator drone .
Atefs pseudonyms were Abu Hafs, Abu Hafs al-Masri, Abu Hafs al-Masri al-Khabir, Taysir, Sheikh Taysir Abdullah and Abu Khadijah.
References
- ↑ a b Stefan Lehmacher: Drones - Death from the Air. (No longer available online.) In: webstory.zdf.de. ZDF, July 2015, archived from the original on July 28, 2015 ; accessed on July 28, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Jason Burke: Al-Qaeda , Penguin Books, London 2003, p. 76.
- ↑ Burke 2003, p. 149.
- ↑ Burke 2003, pp. 148f.
- ↑ Burke 2003, p. 213.
- ↑ Burke 2003, p. 259
- ↑ Editor: Biography: Mohammed Atef. (No longer available online.) In: onze-septembre.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2015 ; Retrieved July 28, 2015 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
- Profile: Muhammed Atef BBC News, November 16, 2001
- Mohammed Atef theguardian.com, November 19, 2001 (English)
- Profile: Abu Hafs al-Masri aljazeera.com, March 13, 2004 (English)
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Atef, Mohammed |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Abu Hafs; Abu Hafs al Masri |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Egyptian terrorist |
DATE OF BIRTH | 1944 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Menufiya, Egypt |
DATE OF DEATH | November 16, 2001 |
Place of death | Kabul |