Gallery: Beyond bin Laden: 10 Top Terrorists Taken Down
01khalid-sheikh-mohammed
U.S. special operations forces raided a comfortable mansion in [Abottabad, Pakistan](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/05/video-inside-bin-ladens-drone-proof-compound/), yesterday, killing Osama bin Laden and capping off a global manhunt that has lasted well over a decade. Bin Laden hasn't been the only one sought. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, a number of senior leaders, associates or fellow travelers fled Afghanistan to take shelter in Pakistan's more populated cities like Rawalpindi where many were captured by U.S. and Pakistani forces. In the years that followed, American drones and special operators found "high value targets" in places like Pakistan's tribal areas or in quiet hideouts in Iraq. The list of targets grew to include leadership of the Pakistani Taliban. Along the way, U.S. officials have used the names and tallies of jihadi leaders captured and killed as markers in the "war on terror." Here are some of their stories in brief. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed ---------------------- The alleged mastermind of the 9/11 operation, Mohammed claimed involvement in [at least 31 different plots](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6452789.stm) and was identified as the murderer of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl [by the veins in his hand](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/01/qaeda-killers-veins-implicate-him-in-journos-murder/), shown in a grisly video of Pearl's death. He was [captured near Rawalpindi, Pakistan](http://articles.cnn.com/2003-03-03/world/pakistan.arrests_1_qaeda-ahmed-abdul-qadoos-cia-agents?_s=PM:asiapcf), on March 1, 2003, and instantly became the most valuable -- and one of the most-tortured -- detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
02abu-musab-al-zarqawi
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi -------------------- Zarqawi headed to Iraq after 9/11, and developed a bloodthirsty reputation there, starring in a number of beheading videos. He eventually [swore fealty to bin Laden](http://www.jamestown.org/programs/gta/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=27305&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=179&no_cache=1) and headed up the local al-Qaida franchise, until he was killed on June 7, 2006. After a long manhunt headed by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, U.S. fighter jets [dropped two 500-pound bombs](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/09/AR2006060900473.html) on a hide-out he was using approximately 8 km (5 miles) north of Baqubah.
03abu-layth-al-libi
Abu Layth al-Libi ----------------- A Libyan citizen and [former member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/specials/terror/laith.html), al-Libi joined al-Qaida and became a "[charismatic senior military commander and a key link between al-Qaida and its affiliates in North Africa](http://www.dni.gov/testimonies/20080207_testimony.pdf)" (.pdf), according to U.S. intelligence. He reportedly [masterminded the suicide attack](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,269823,00.html) that struck a U.S. base in Afghanistan during a February 2007 visit from then-Vice President Dick Cheney. A little less then a year later -- on Jan. 31, 2008 -- al-Libi was reportedly [killed in a drone attack](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3287583.ece).
04mustapha-abu-al-yazid
Mustapha Abu al-Yazid --------------------- Reportedly a founding member of al-Qaida, Egyptian Mustapha Abu al-Yazid went from being a [financial manager for al-Qaida to its commander for Afghanistan](http://www.jamestown.org/programs/gta/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=4276&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=240&no_cache=1). He was [killed in a drone strike](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/01/al-qaida-afghanistan-killed-pakistan-drone) on May 22, 2010 in the remote Pakistani village of Boya.
05ramzi-binalshibh
Ramzi Binalshibh ---------------- A Yemeni citizen and friend of the 9/11 hijackers, Binalshibh acted as [a facilitator between the hijackers and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed](http://www.dni.gov/announcements/content/DetaineeBiographies.pdf) (.pdf) because he couldn't get a visa to travel to the United States; he was [captured in Karachi, Pakistan](http://www.defense.gov/news/D-126%20-%20Ruling%20and%20Pleadings%203%209.pdf), (.pdf) on Sept. 11, 2002.
06mustapha-al-hawsawi
Mustapha al Hawsawi ------------------- Hawsawi, a Saudi citizen, was [a paymaster for the 9/11 attacks](http://www.dni.gov/announcements/content/DetaineeBiographies.pdf) (.pdf), sending and receiving money for the operation. He later eventually fled to Pakistan where he was [captured during a raid in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, in March 2003](http://www.defense.gov/news/D-126%20-%20Ruling%20and%20Pleadings%203%209.pdf) (.pdf).
07baitullah-mehsud
Baitullah Mehsud ---------------- Leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Mehsud was fingered by the CIA for orchestrating a wave of suicide bombings and for [killing former Pakistani Prime Minister Benzair Bhutto](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/17/AR2008011703252.html). He was [killed by a U.S. drone strike](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/08/drone-strike-apparently-kills-pakistan-taliban-chief/) while visiting his father-in-law's home in South Waziristanm, Pakistan, on Aug. 5, 2009.
08abu-ayyub-al-masri
Abu Ayyub al-Masri ------------------ Zarqawi's successor, the so-called "war minister" of al-Qaida's Iraqi affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), was killed by [U.S. forces working with their Iraqi counterparts](http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=58797) alongside ISI emir Abu Umar al Baghdadi near Tikrit, Iraq, on April 18, 2010.
09abu-umar-al-baghdadi
Abu Umar al-Baghdadi, aka Hamid Dawud Muhammad Khalil al-Zawi ------------------------------------------------------------- During the course of the Iraq war, al-Baghdadi was reported killed so many times that many thought he [never existed in the first place](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/dangerroom/2007/07/for-more-than-a/). That changed on April 18, 2010, when a joint operation of American and Iraqi forces rocketed a home where he was hiding near Tikrit, Iraq.
10osama-bin-laden
Osama bin Laden --------------- He orchestrated the murder of 2,975 people on 9/11. Then he disappeared for almost a decade. Finally, the founder of al-Qaida was killed by U.S. forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
