World | Abu Yahya al-Libi Drone Strike Victim ID'd as Top al-Qaeda Strategist Identity unclear, but he's not Osama By Nick McMaster Posted Dec 11, 2009 4:21 PM CST Copied In this May 4, 2002 file photo provided by the U.S. Air Force, a CH-47 Chinook helicopter prepares to land and pick up members of a coalition force in the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan. (AP Photo/U.S. Air Force, Staff Sgt. Jeremy T. Lock, File) A drone missile strike in Pakistan killed a top al-Qaeda operative earlier this week, but the victim's identity remains unclear. Earlier reports said the slain terrorist leader was Abu Yahya al-Libi, the organization's No. 3, who escaped from US custody at the Bagram Air Force in 2005. But other reports say the dead man is the less prominent Saleh al-Somali. Though Somali was lower in stature, his death may prove more beneficial to the US effort in Afghanistan: he was allegedly responsible for al-Qaeda's operations in the Afghanistan and Pakistan region. His job was to take guidance from senior leaders and "translate it into operational blueprints for prospective terrorist attacks," a US official tells CBS News. Read These Next Colbert tells audience it's curtains for his Late Show. This is why you don't wear metal in MRI rooms. Senate claws back aid to public broadcasting. A lost mom and son used handwritten notes to get rescued. Report an error