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Egyptian ally of bin Laden reported killed in Afghanistan
An Egyptian Islamic militant presumed close to chief terror suspect Osama bin Laden was killed while handling a bomb dropped by US aircraft on Afghanistan, the head of an Islamic information agency has said.
An Egyptian Islamic militant presumed close to chief terror suspect Osama bin Laden was killed while handling a bomb dropped by US aircraft on Afghanistan, the head of an Islamic information agency has said.
The Egyptian, named as Abu Bassir El-Masri, an alias, was killed last Friday near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan, Yasser Al-Serri, head of the Islamic information observatory, told media persons from London. Serri said Abu Bassir was a member of the Egyptian Jamaa Islamiya group linked to bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, and managed a guest-house at Jalalabad for fighters returning from or going to the front.
He was not a senior military commander as erroneous press reports have said, Serri added. He said that Abu Bassir was with a number of others when a bomb fell nearby without exploding. One of them picked it up, but was told by an other to get rid of it in case it was a delayed action device.
“He threw it away and it exploded,” Serri said. A splinter hit Abu Bassir and lodged in his spinal column.
He was taken to hospital and died later.
Two other people at the scene, a Muslim Chinese from Turkistan and a Saudi from Riyadh, were wounded in the hand, Serri added, quoting witnesses. r
Abu Bassir, who was in his 30s, had been in Afghanistan for BQP years and married an afghan woman, with whom he had a son, Serri said. Though not sought in Egypt, he had decided not to return home after seeing that some veterans of the Afghan war had been arrested and sentenced there.
Bureau Report
The Egyptian, named as Abu Bassir El-Masri, an alias, was killed last Friday near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan, Yasser Al-Serri, head of the Islamic information observatory, told media persons from London. Serri said Abu Bassir was a member of the Egyptian Jamaa Islamiya group linked to bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, and managed a guest-house at Jalalabad for fighters returning from or going to the front.
He was not a senior military commander as erroneous press reports have said, Serri added. He said that Abu Bassir was with a number of others when a bomb fell nearby without exploding. One of them picked it up, but was told by an other to get rid of it in case it was a delayed action device.
“He threw it away and it exploded,” Serri said. A splinter hit Abu Bassir and lodged in his spinal column.
He was taken to hospital and died later.
Two other people at the scene, a Muslim Chinese from Turkistan and a Saudi from Riyadh, were wounded in the hand, Serri added, quoting witnesses. r
Abu Bassir, who was in his 30s, had been in Afghanistan for BQP years and married an afghan woman, with whom he had a son, Serri said. Though not sought in Egypt, he had decided not to return home after seeing that some veterans of the Afghan war had been arrested and sentenced there.
Bureau Report