CIA kills al-Qaida operative in missile strike

OPENING up a visible new front in the war on terror, US forces launched a pinpoint missile strike in Yemen, killing a top al-Qaida operative in his car in the first such overt attack outside of Afghanistan, a US official said.

The strike, believed to have been conducted by a CIA aircraft, killed Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

US counter-terrorism officials say al-Harethi was al-Qaida’s chief operative in Yemen and a suspect in the October 2000 bombing of the destroyer USS Cole.