PESHAWAR, May 23: An American citizen killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan in 2011 was arrested by Pakistani authorities three years earlier but escaped after being released on bail, officials said on Thursday.

The Obama administration revealed on Wednesday that Jude Kenan Mohammad died in a US drone strike in the country’s tribal region, making him the fourth American citizen killed by unmanned aircraft in Pakistan and Yemen.

US officials didn’t provide details, but Pakistani security officials said Jude was killed in late 2011 in South Waziristan tribal area.

Jude was part of an eight-member group based in North Carolina accused of planning terrorist attacks.

He was indicted by federal authorities in 2009 as part of an alleged plot to attack the US Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia. The other seven members were arrested, but authorities said Jude fled the US to join militants in Pakistan’s tribal region.

Pakistani intelligence officials arrested Jude on Oct 15, 2008, after he tried to enter the Mohmand tribal area.

Jude was carrying a laptop, a dagger, Islamic books and DVDs, a map of Pakistan and an American passport, the security officials said.

Jude appeared in a court in Shabqadar town on Oct 17, 2008. Police said they were interrogating the American to determine why he had come to the area, but gave no indication at the time that they suspected he had links with militants.

The US formally said for the first time on Wednesday that it had killed radical Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and three other US citizens in anti-terror strikes abroad.

Washington acknowledged it targeted Awlaki in Yemen in September 2011.

“The United States is further aware of three other US citizens who have been killed in anti-terror operations over that same time period: Samir Khan, Abdulrahman al Awlaki and Jude Kenan Mohammad.”—Agencies