Al Qaeda militant wanted for plotting to bomb NYC subways killed in raid, Pakistan military says

This undated handout file photo provided by the FBI shows Adnan Shukrijumah. (AP)

Al Qaeda militant wanted in the U.S. for plotting to bomb New York City subways has been killed during a raid, Pakistan's military said Saturday.

Adnan Shukrijumah was killed along with two other suspected militants in the lawless tribal area Saturday, the military said.

"The Al Qaeda leader, who was killed by the Pakistan army in a successful operation, is the same person who had been indicted in the United Stated," said a senior Pakistani army officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to journalists.

Shukrijumah, 39, held a position that once was Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The U.S. State Department had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture through its Rewards for Justice program. In addition, the FBI lists the Saudi as a "most wanted" terrorist.

Prosecutors in the U.S. allege Shukrijumah recruited three men in 2008 to receive training for the attack. The New York indictment links him to the Manhattan plot that was supposed to be similar to another plot to bomb British subways.

Attorney General Eric Holder has called that plot one of the most dangerous since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

After the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Shukrijumah was seen as one of al-Qaida's best chances to attack inside the U.S. or Europe, captured terrorist Abu Zubaydah told U.S. authorities. Shukrijumah studied at a community college in Florida but when the FBI showed up to arrest him as a material witness to a terrorism case in 2003, he already had left the country.

In 2004, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft called Shukrijumah a "clear and present danger" to the United States.