CIA officer Dark Prince a.k.a Ayatollah Mike behind Soleimani, Bin Laden attack killed in crash?

New Delhi, Jan 29: A top CIA official who led the hunt for Osama bin Laden is behind the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, the media in Iran is reporting.

The media named Michael D Andrea as the man behind the drone attack. Andrea also goes by the name Dark Prince and Ayatollah Mike.

The media further reported that the officer was onboard the US surveillance plane that crashed in Ghazni, Afghanistan on Monday. There is however no evidence to support this claim.It was the Taliban that first claimed the death of CIA officers in the crash. There is no clarity on the same but casualty figures have ranged from two to seven according to reports.

Iran's Tasnim news cited Russian sources to say that the man behind the killing of Soleimani was on the plane and was killed in the crash.

D'Andrea led the man hunt for Bin Laden. He was named as the CIA head, Iran operations in 2017. The US has not confirmed the development.