Top Al Qaeda Leader Killed in U.S. Attack NPR | By Tom Gjelten Published November 4, 2002 at 9:00 PM PST LinkedIn Email Listen • 3:36 A missile fired by an unmanned U.S. aircraft kills a key al Qaeda leader and five other suspected terrorists in Yemen. U.S. officials confirm the strike was a planned CIA attack. NPR's Tom Gjelten reports. Copyright 2002 NPR