The United States has killed Al Qaeda‘s number two commander in another blow to the international terrorist organization after the elimination of Osama Bin Laden.

The Obama administration announced Saturday afternoon in Washington that the second highest commander, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, was killed in Pakistan. It did not say how he died, but a drone was assumed to have targeted him last Monday because a drone attack was reported the same day. The news of al-Rahman's death was kept secret until Saturday.

Al-Rahman was born in Libya and was a close associate of Bin Laden. He formerly served as his delegate to Iran in an arrangement that allowed him to enter and leave the country freely.

The terrorist joined Al Qaeda while he was a teenager, and participated in the terrorist war against the Soviet Union,

His elimination was made possible by the information uncovered by the Navy SEALs who seized computer disks during the raid earlier this year on the home of Bin Laden in Pakistan.

In two weeks, the United States will mark 11 years since the Al Qaeda attacks on the World Trade Center’s twin towers in New York and the Pentagon outside of Washington. Along with another hijacking of an airplane that crash-landed in a field, the death toll reached nearly 3,000.

The assassination of Bin Laden and other leaders have led American officials to believe that they are on the right track to defeat Al Qaeda.  

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said that another 10-20 Al Qaeda commanders need to be targeted before victory can be claimed.

One of them is Bin Laden’s successor, Ayman al Zawahiri, of Egypt. He is believed to be hiding in Pakistan.