Atef, Muhammad (C. 1944–2001)

aka Abu Hafs, Abu Hafs el-Masry el-Khabir, Taysir, Sheikh Taysir Abdullah, Abu Khadijah

A former Egyptian police officer regarded as being one of Osama bin Laden's closest advisers, Muhammad Atef is said to have been a key planner of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C. Atef, often described as the chief military commander of Al Qaeda, died on November 15, 2001, during the U.S. bombings near Kabul, Afghanistan.

Little is known about Atef's early life; by the mid-1970s, he was a member of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and is said to have become top lieutenant. Ayman al-Zawahiri, who would later become known as the philosopher of Al Qaeda, commanded the group. Islamic Jihad, which supports strict Islamic governance instead of secular government for Muslim nations, is often described as a major influence on Al Qaeda.

After Egyptian president Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981 in a plot that al-Zawahiri was involved in, Egypt cracked down on the Islamic opposition. Egyptian security officials held suspects without trial and tortured many of them. Members of Islamic Jihad fled Egypt in large numbers. Atef went to Afghanistan, where he joined the fight against the occupying forces of the Soviet Union. In Afghanistan, Atef and his commander al-Zawahiri joined with bin Laden. The three men would become the dominant members of Al Qaeda in the mid-1990s, when al-Zawahiri merged Islamic Jihad with it. Al Qaeda, an Arabic word meaning “The Base,” is an international terrorist network that uses force and violence to achieve its goal of driving the United States from all Islamic countries, especially Saudi Arabia; it also serves as an umbrella group for other militant organizations. Al Qaeda carried out the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

In the early 1990s, Atef followed bin Laden to Sudan. U.S. officials have charged that while in Africa he and other Al Qaeda members gave military training to Somali tribes that were opposed to the U.N. intervention. According to a U.S. indictment, tribe members trained by Atef were among those who attacked U.S. and U.N. troops serving in Somalia for Operation Rescue [Page 57]Hope. Hundreds of Somalis and 18 U.S. Army members were killed in the attacks in Mogadishu in 1993.

After being expelled from Sudan in 1996, Atef, bin Laden, and al-Zawahiri returned to Afghanistan. All three were later indicted in the United States for involvement in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa, in which 224 people were killed and thousands wounded. According to the indictment, Atef was a major strategic commander in the attacks. He met with other Al Qaeda members to plan the bombings and kept in touch with them by cellular phone.

On August 7, coordinated truck bombs went off within minutes of each other at U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, cities separated by more than 400 miles. Four men with ties to Al Qaeda were convicted in 2001 for various roles in the embassy bombings.

Shortly after the embassy bombings, the United States declared that bin Laden and Al Qaeda operatives were responsible. Atef handled media affairs for Al Qaeda after the U.S. accusations, speaking by telephone and exchanging faxes with Western journalists.

In January 2001, Atef's daughter married bin Laden's son in Afghanistan, bringing the two men even closer. When the U.S. forces first began bombing Afghanistan, Atef appeared in a videotaped response next to bin Laden and al-Zawahiri. At about six feet six inches, Atef was unmistakable. In November 2001, U.S. officials announced that Atef had been killed in bomb attacks outside of Kabul. Their finding was partly based on overheard conversations between members of the Taliban. In the ruins of Atef's bombed house, U.S. forces found many Al Qaeda documents, videos, and other materials.

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