Al Qaida leader killed
The week's news at a glance.
Miram Shah, Pakistan
A U.S. missile last week took out Egyptian-born Hamza Rabia, one of al Qaida’s top commanders, who was hiding in a Pakistani village near the Afghan border. Local media gave conflicting reports about the cause of the explosion that killed Rabia, but Pakistani intelligence sources told The Washington Post that it was a missile fired from an unmanned U.S. drone. Rabia was believed to be al Qaida’s current No. 3 man and a planner of large-scale terrorist attacks. “It’s a success story,” said al Qaida specialist Magnus Ranstorp of the Swedish National Defense College. “But al Qaida has turned into a multi-headed hydra: You chop off one head and another head takes its place.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Gandhi arrests: Narendra Modi's 'vendetta' against India's opposition
The Explainer Another episode threatens to spark uproar in the Indian PM's long-running battle against the country's first family
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK
-
How the woke right gained power in the US
Under the radar The term has grown in prominence since Donald Trump returned to the White House
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
-
Codeword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
By The Week Staff