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Somali police said on Saturday that Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, Africa's most wanted al Qaeda operative, was killed in the capital of the Horn of Africa country Tuesday.
Mohammed was reputed to run al Qaeda in east Africa, operated in Somalia and evaded capture for over a decade after being accused of playing a lead role in the 1998 U.S. embassy attacks in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, which killed 240 people.
Police said they shot Mohammed at a checkpoint in Mogadishu after an exchange of fire at midnight Tuesday in the chaotic country where Mohammed, also known as Harun, an accomplished linguist and computer expert with at least 18 aliases, is believed to have been hiding for most of the past decade.
Washington says several al Qaeda members involved in the embassy bombings sought sanctuary in Somalia's south, its most violent region.
Somalia, Kenya's northern neighbor, has been without an effective central government since the overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
"We have confirmed he was killed by our police at a control checkpoint this week," Halima Aden, a senior national security officer, told Reuters in Mogadishu.
"He had a fake South African passport and of course other documents. After thorough investigation, we confirmed it was him, and then we buried his corpse," Aden said.
The United States had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the capture of the Comorian, who spoke five languages and was said to be a master of disguise, forgery and bomb making.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters: "Harun Fazul's death is a significant blow to al Qaeda, its extremist allies, and its operations in East Africa."
"It is a just end for a terrorist who brought so much death and pain to so many innocents in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam and elsewhere -- Tanzanians, Kenyans, Somalis and our own embassy personnel," she said on a visit to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
A senior U.S. official in Washington said that his killing removed one of the group's "most experienced operational planners in East Africa and has almost certainly set back operations."
U.S. officials say Mohammed, believed to be in his mid 30s, also masterminded an attack on an Israeli-owned hotel along Kenya's coast in November 2002 that killed 15 people.
Mohammed was reputed to run al Qaeda in east Africa, operated in Somalia and evaded capture for over a decade after being accused of playing a lead role in the 1998 U.S. embassy attacks in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, which killed 240 people.
Police said they shot Mohammed at a checkpoint in Mogadishu after an exchange of fire at midnight Tuesday in the chaotic country where Mohammed, also known as Harun, an accomplished linguist and computer expert with at least 18 aliases, is believed to have been hiding for most of the past decade.
Washington says several al Qaeda members involved in the embassy bombings sought sanctuary in Somalia's south, its most violent region.
Somalia, Kenya's northern neighbor, has been without an effective central government since the overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
"We have confirmed he was killed by our police at a control checkpoint this week," Halima Aden, a senior national security officer, told Reuters in Mogadishu.
"He had a fake South African passport and of course other documents. After thorough investigation, we confirmed it was him, and then we buried his corpse," Aden said.
The United States had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the capture of the Comorian, who spoke five languages and was said to be a master of disguise, forgery and bomb making.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters: "Harun Fazul's death is a significant blow to al Qaeda, its extremist allies, and its operations in East Africa."
"It is a just end for a terrorist who brought so much death and pain to so many innocents in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam and elsewhere -- Tanzanians, Kenyans, Somalis and our own embassy personnel," she said on a visit to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
A senior U.S. official in Washington said that his killing removed one of the group's "most experienced operational planners in East Africa and has almost certainly set back operations."
U.S. officials say Mohammed, believed to be in his mid 30s, also masterminded an attack on an Israeli-owned hotel along Kenya's coast in November 2002 that killed 15 people.