Mohammed Atef
Mohammed Atef (Arabic: محمد عاطف, Muḥammad ʿ DMG Atif; * 1944 in Menufiya / Egypt; † 16 November 2001 in Kabul ) was a leading figure of the Egyptian terrorist group al - Jihad and senior member of the Islamist terrorist group al - Qaeda. He was killed during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in a rocket attack.
Atef held a position within the Egyptian police forces. He was imprisoned in 1981 on Anwar Sadat because of his involvement in the assassination. In the early '90s, he joined together with Ayman al-Zawahiri bin Laden's al - Qaeda. He served in the organization as a coordinator for armed operations. He was accused to have been instrumental in the planning of the September 11 attacks and the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in 1998. U.S. agencies also suspect that he was allegedly involved in the deployment of fighters to Somalia. These are said to have assisted in the Battle of Mogadishu Somali militias who fought against U.S. troops and UN peacekeepers. The Somali warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid, however, denied to have received help from al - Qaeda.
Furthermore, he maintained close family ties to bin Laden. In December 2000, three months after the attack on the U.S. destroyer USS Cole ( DDG -67) he married his daughter to a son of bin Laden.
Atef was killed on 16 November 2001 by a rocket attack by U.S. troops in a suburb of Kabul.
Pseudonyms were Atef Abu Hafs, Abu Hafs al -Masri, Abu Hafs al -Masri al - Khabir, Taysir, Sheikh Taysir Abdullah and Abu Khadija.