CIA missile kills 2 top al-Qaida officials

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- A CIA strike this month in Pakistan killed two top al-Qaida terrorists, The Washington Post reported.

The newspaper reported that sources told the Post the New Years Day missile attack in northern Pakistan killed a Kenyan national who used the name Usama al-Kini, described as al-Qaida's chief of operations in Pakistan, and his lieutenant, Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan.

The men were killed by a 500-pound Hellfire missile fired by a pilotless drone aircraft operated by the CIA, near Karikot in South Waziristan, counter-terrorism officials said.

Both men were on the FBI's most-wanted list for ties to the 1998 bombings of U.S. Embassies in East Africa and a series of recent bombings in Pakistan.

The CIA declined to comment on the missile strike. But the Post said a U.S. counter-terrorism official confirmed that the two died in a CIA strike on a building that was being used for explosives training.

"They died preparing new acts of terror," said the official, who insisted on anonymity.