courtesy Creative Commons

Top al Qaeda official Asiam Awan was believed to be the last member of a Pakistan-based al Qaeda cell, according to The Daily Beast. Pakistani police have been trying to eliminate the cell since 2008.

"Aslam Awan was a senior al-Qaeda external operations planner who was working on attacks against the West. His death reduces al-Qaeda's thinning bench of another operative devoted to plotting the death of innocent civilians," a U.S. official told Reuters.

The strike broke an eight-week hiatus in attacks by armed, unmanned drones patrolling Pakistan’s tribal areas, according to Reuters.

Several other top al Qaeda officials have been caught or killed in other drone attacks recently.

Reach associate news editor Hannah Madans here.