Chief al-Qaeda bomb maker 'killed in Yemen strike' - US reports Published duration 21 August 2018 Related Topics Yemen crisis

image copyright Reuters image caption Al-Qaeda has not commented on the reports or published a eulogy for Ibrahim al-Asiri

US officials are reportedly confident that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's suspected chief bomb maker, Ibrahim al-Asiri, has been killed.

Asiri is alleged to have been behind the 2009 underwear bomb plot and made devices found on cargo planes in 2010.

Intelligence suggesting he was working on a bomb hidden in a laptop or tablet led the US to ban them on some flights.

AQAP has not commented on the reports or published a eulogy for Asiri, as it has done for other leaders and field commanders killed by the US and its allies.

The US designated Asiri, 36, as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" in 2011 and has offered a $5m (£3.9m) reward for any information leading to his capture.

Asiri gained notoriety for the recruitment of his younger brother, Abdullah, as a suicide bomber.

The bomb contained the explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) , and used a detonator with a chemical fuse, which was not spotted by a metal detector.

image copyright ABC News via Getty Images image caption The bomb concealed in Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's underwear failed to detonate fully

After the death of his brother, Asiri is thought to have designed the underpants bomb allegedly used by a young Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab , in an attempt to blow up a US passenger jet as it flew into Detroit on Christmas Day 2009. That device also contained PETN and had a chemical fuse.