Fazul was among bin Laden's top commanders and head of al Qaeda's East African cell, which was responsible for the 1998 twin US embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam.
He was also blamed for the 2002 Kikambala Paradise Hotel attack that happened simultaneously with an attempt to bring down an Israeli airliner that was leaving Moi International Airport in Mombasa.
The killing of Fazul comes after that of another al Qaeda operative, Mombasa-born Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan believed to have been the leader of the group's cell in Kenya.Nabhan, who was killed in Somalia by US special forces operating from a US warship in 2009, was reportedly responsible for the bombing of the Israeli-owned Paradise Hotel.The death of the two top al Qaeda operatives in East Africa not only weakens the terror group but also deals a big blow to Somali militant group al Shaabab which has been fighting the Transitional Federal Government.Al Qaeda operations in East Africa can be traced to Sudan, which in the early 1990s became a safe haven for Islamic extremist groups, according to US intelligence reports.Bin Laden used Sudan as a base for his operations beginning in 1992 to support various jihad efforts around the world, before he was expelled in May 1996 following an al Qaeda linked plot to assassinate deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
But operational challenges appear to have led al Qaeda to view Somalia as more useful as a trans-shipment point for operations elsewhere in the region, particularly Kenya.
During this time, al Qaeda claimed responsibility for arming and training the Somali factions responsible for killing 18 US soldiers in Mogadishu in October 1993.Reports suggest that al Qaeda began planning a large-scale terrorist attack against American targets in East Africa in 1993, scouting for "soft" targets and establishing a cell in Nairobi.Bin Laden's personal secretary, Wadih el Hage, and Fazul, were key members of the Nairobi cell, which operated under the guise of a humanitarian relief organisation.On August 7, 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were struck by near-simultaneous truck bombs. Several cell members were subsequently apprehended.According to one account, Fazul became involved in al Qaeda money laundering through the so-called "blood diamonds" trade, and in 2001 he assembled operatives in Mogadishu to begin planning the next attack.He was briefly detained by Kenyan police in July 2002 on robbery charges, but reportedly escaped before they realised his identity.According to some sources, Fazul subsequently became a senior leader in Somalia's nascent Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), while Nabhan reportedly trained UIC militants.US officials believe that Fazul became the top al Qaeda leader in Somalia, a role he assumed after Nabhan's death.
Kenyans, Somalis praise killing of al Qaeda mastermind
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bombing in Africa - as Al Qaeda mastermind is gunned down in Somalia shootout
Suspected al-Qaeda terrorist leader Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was carrying “very specific” plans for bombings in Western countries when he was killed by Somali soldiers near Mogadishu, a Somali intelligence official says.
Mr. Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 1998 bombings that killed 224 people at two U.S. embassies in East Africa, was shot dead when his vehicle apparently blundered into a military checkpoint by mistake.
Terrorist leader killed in Somalia carried plans for bombing the West
PRESS STATEMENT DECISION OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS JUNE 11.2011 somali government army commander Gen. Abdikadir Sheikh Ali Dini. and Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi(Farmaajo)thanked Special task force team who killed al-Qaeda's Fazul Abdullah congratulating them
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