(Previous Incident Code: Ob238 )

A vehicle was targeted in the Norak area of North Waziristan, killing alleged militants. AFP cited a local security official as saying that the house of a local tribal elder was also hit. Dawn later reported that the house belonged to tribesman Gul Sawab, and that ‘three militants and four tribesmen from the same family’ died in the attack and that a guest house was hit. On August 27 a US official reported that Al Qaeda’s new second in command, Atiyah abd al-Rahman, died in a Pakistan drone strike ‘earlier that week’. Al-Rahman had reportedly been in constant communication with Osama bin Laden before his death in May 2011. A US official told the New York Times:

Atiyah was at the top of Al Qaeda’s trusted core. His combination of background, experience and abilities are unique in Al Qaeda — without question, they will not be easily replaced.

Media speculation mostly centred on the Norak strike. But The News reported that two separate strikes took place that day (OB238c and OB238ci), and that al-Rahman and his family died elsewhere. Reuters reported that Pakistani officials could neither confirm al-Rahman’s death, nor his status as al-Qaeda number two. Al Rahman had already been reported dead, and on the first anniversary of his death in 2012 Al Qaeda reportedly released a biography of the slain leader.