Drone Strike Kills Top al-Qaeda Operative

A CIA drone strike in early January killed a key al-Qaeda operative who was planning attacks on the West, according to a US official. The official said yesterday that the strike on Jan. 10 hit Aslam Awan, who was described as an "external operations planner" inside the organization. The strike was one of the first after a hiatus of some six weeks, after a controversial friendly fire incident at the border in which US forces fired on Pakistani border outposts, killing 24 Pakistani troops in a case of mistaken identity.