One of four Al-Qaeda operatives who escaped from a US airbase in Afghanistan three years ago has been killed in a US air strike, said a statement from the group monitored by the SITE Intelligence Group.
"Qaedat al-Jihad Organisation reports the death of a hero among its field commanders, who did a great job in fighting the Crusade. He is brother Abu Abdullah al-Shami," Al-Qaeda said in the statement posted on Islamist militant websites.
Dated July 14 and posted on Thursday, the statement said Shami and a number of militants were killed in "an American air raid" without specifying its date or location, according to the US-based SITE.
The message was signed by Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, Al-Qaeda's general commander in Afghanistan, it added.
Shami was one of four Al-Qaeda escapees from Bagram prison in July 2005, along with Abu Yahya al-Libi, Abu Nasser al-Qahtani and Omar al-Farouq.
"As soon as his feet touched the battlefield one more time, he took on his jihad with more pride and more persistence," the statement said, adding that he led and participated in "many successful military operations."
SITE, which monitors Islamist militant websites, said Farouq was killed in Iraq in September 2006 and Qahtani is in a Saudi jail.
