Drone Strike Killed Al Qaeda's No.2

Al Qaeda's second-in-command was killed in a Central Intelligence Agency drone strike in the tribal¹ areas of Pakistan, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

Abu Yahya al-Libi was in charge of al Qaeda's operations at the highest level and was the group's point man for maintaining connections with al Qaeda affiliates² around the world.

He was one of the terrorist group's 'most experienced and versatile³ leaders' who played 'a critical role in the group's planning against the West,' said one U.S. official.

A popular al Qaeda commander, Mr. Libi rose to prominence⁴ after he escaped from the U.S. detention⁵ center at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan in July 2005.

He ascended⁶ to the No. 2 post in al Qaeda after his predecessor⁷ was killed in August.

After Monday's drone strike, al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri 'will be hard-pressed to find any one person who can readily step into Abu Yahya's shoes,' the U.S. official said. 'There is no one who even comes close in terms of replacing the expertise⁸ AQ has just lost.'

Siobhan Gorman

AFP/Getty Images美国官员周二说，基地组织二号人物阿利比在美国中央情报局发动的无人机空袭中被击毙，空袭地点在巴基斯坦部落地区。

美国官员周二说，基地组织(Al Qaeda)二号人物在美国中央情报局(Central Intelligence Agency)发动的无人机空袭中被击毙，空袭地点在巴基斯坦部落地区。

阿布?亚哈?阿利比(Abu Yahya al-Libi)生前是负责基地组织行动的最高级别领导人，也是该组织维持与全球分支机构关系的负责人。

Associated Press美国官员称，基地组织二号人物阿利比在巴基斯坦的一次无人机空袭中被击毙。该次空袭行动遭到巴基斯坦民众的抗议。一位美国官员说，阿利比是这个恐怖主义组织中经验最丰富的多面手领导人之一，在该组织制定对抗西方的计划中扮演关键角色。

阿利比是一位受欢迎的基地组织指挥官。2005年7月，他从美国设在阿富汗巴格拉姆空军基地(Bagram Air Base)的拘留所中逃脱，之后名声大振。

继前任去年8月被击毙后，阿利比跃升为基地组织的“二把手”。

这位美国官员说，在周一的无人机空袭后，基地组织现任领导人扎瓦希里(Ayman al-Zawahiri)在物色阿利比的接替者时将面临很大压力。这位官员说，还没有人有足够的能力可以替代阿利比。

1 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

2 affiliates   

附属企业( affiliate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She affiliates with an academic society. 她是某学术团体的成员。
• For example, these security affiliates participated in the floating of 19,000,000,000 of issues in 1927. 例如，这些证券发行机构在1927年的流通证券中，就提供了一百九十亿美元的证券。

3 versatile   

adj.通用的，万用的；多才多艺的，多方面的

参考例句：

• A versatile person is often good at a number of different things.多才多艺的人通常擅长许多种不同的事情。
• He had been one of the game's most versatile athletes.他是这项运动中技术最全面的运动员之一。

4 prominence   

n.突出；显著；杰出；重要

参考例句：

• He came to prominence during the World Cup in Italy.他在意大利的世界杯赛中声名鹊起。
• This young fashion designer is rising to prominence.这位年轻的时装设计师的声望越来越高。

5 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

6 ascended   

v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He has ascended into heaven. 他已经升入了天堂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The climbers slowly ascended the mountain. 爬山运动员慢慢地登上了这座山。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

8 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。