Mumbay attack's mastermind killed by a US drone in South Waziristan

[Principe Alessandro]

BBC Urdu reports: Ilyas Kashmiri killed in a Drone attack

Al-Qaeda terrorist and Mumbai terror attack mastermind Ilyas Kashmiri were among nine militants killed in a US drone strike, BBC reported today, quoting residents of South Waziristan tribal region.

[Babur]

BBC Urdu reports: Ilyas Kashmiri killed in a Drone attack

Great news if true but you need a longer OP

Here:

Deadly US drone targeted Ilyas KashmiriAFP (3 hours ago) Today

This file photo taken on July 11, 2001 shows Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri, commander-in-chief of the Kashmiri militant group Harkatul Jihad al-Islami, addressing a press conference in Islamabad. — Photo by AFP


ISLAMABAD: A US drone attack that killed nine militants in Pakistan targeted top al Qaeda commander Ilyas Kashmiri, local officials said Saturday without being able to confirm whether he was present.

Kashmiri, 47, is considered one of the most feared operational commanders of the network that Osama bin Laden founded and has been blamed for a string of high-profile attacks on western targets, as well as in India and Pakistan.

The United States has put out a $5 million reward — the maximum for any most-wanted target — for any information that might help locate him.

Pakistani officials said nine militants were killed in the US missile strike on Friday at a compound in the Ghwakhwa area of South Waziristan, a stronghold of al-Qaeda-allied Taliban despite a sweeping Pakistani offensive in 2009.

“This attack targeted the Ilyas Kashmiri group but we still don’t know whether he was present or not at the time of the attack,” a senior local administration official told AFP by telephone on condition of anonymity.

“Nine militants were killed in last night’s drone strike,” a security official in Peshawar told AFP.

“All those killed were Kashmiri’s fighters but informers told us that the dead bodies were badly mutilated and that it was not possible to recognise any of them,” the official added.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, asked during a visit to the city of Multan about reports of Kashmiri’s killing, said he had “no information”.

Regional and anti-terrorism experts say that Kashmiri, leader of banned Pakistani group Harkatul Jihad al-Islami (HJI) is one of al Qaeda’s main operational commanders.

He has been blamed for multiple attacks in Pakistan, including the recent May 22 siege on a naval air base in Karachi.

Counter-terrorism officials believe he was the main coordinator of a terror plot targeting Britain, France, Germany and the United States, which was apparently in the early stages when detected by intelligence agencies in 2010.

Two intelligence officials in Wana, the main town of South Waziristan, also confirmed that those killed on Friday were all Kashmiri’s fighters.

But a spokesman for Pakistan’s umbrella Taliban faction said Kashmiri was “alive and safe”, and had not been present at the time of the strike.

“Only our local comrades died in this drone strike,” Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.

http://www.dawn.com/2011/06/04/ilyas...ne-strike.html

apparently the Pakistani Taliban are denying that he was killed

[Davius]

"Why didn't they capture him and put him on trial?!?" in 3..2..1..

[Stario]

Whether true or false, the use of drones to assassinate/murder people is a scary thought; perhaps movies such as "The Terminator" will soon become reality.

[Sir Winston Churchill]

Whether true or false, the use of drones to assassinate/murder people is a scary thought; perhaps movies such as "The Terminator" will soon become reality.

Nah. Nothing out of the terminator will be created soon, we're not that advanced.

[Captain Jin]

Well hopefully it's true. I just got done watching Frontline special on these capture/kill operations. Successes like this are great if it turns out to be the case.

perhaps movies such as "The Terminator" will soon become reality.

Uhm the drones are remote controlled by humans not Skynet...

[Babur]

Uhm the drones are remote controlled by humans not Skynet...

maybe one day though, HKs would make the US's job a lot easier

[priam11]

Uhm the drones are remote controlled by humans not Skynet...

Ha ha. I need to get some sleep. I thought you said Skype! No wonder the vacuum cleaner was acting weird this morning.

On topic: Good Kill.

[Tiberios]

Good news if this is true.

[Babur]

On topic: Good Kill.

This is probably what it looked like :

[bushbush]

loving the drones.

[Central Asian Qaghan]

Good for India I guess. The Hindus must be dancing for joy.

[Babur]

Good for India I guess. The Hindus must be dancing for joy.

what? it's good for everyone

[Their Law]

what? it's good for everyone

I also imagine that there will be more than just Hindu's celebrating in India at this news.

[Babur]

I also imagine that there will be more than just Hindu's celebrating in India at this news.

Indeed, Ilyas Kashmiri was a member of Al Qaeda

[bushbush]

Good for India I guess. The Hindus must be dancing for joy.

this guy killed a ton of muslims too. He organized the attack on pakistan naval base a few weeks ago.

[Visna]

apparently the Pakistani Taliban are denying that he was killed

Pakistan has turned denial and assigning (foreign) blame into an art form. Why should the Pakistani Taliban be any different?

I don't like the concept of drones, but given the circumstances I guess everyone have to live with them. And if he's dead I certainly won't be shedding any tears.

[Caelius]

. Yeah. Those are really the only two words to describe this to be honest. The CIA and friends have been on a roll lately, but this may take the cake. No confirmation yet if this came as a result of intelligence gleaned from the bin Laden compound, but I wouldn't be surprised.

When I heard about this on the news this morning I audibly gasped.

Source

Top al Qaeda leader Ilyas Kashmiri killed in US Predator strike
By Bill Roggio

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archiv...#ixzz1OMaOikog
The US has killed Ilyas Kashmiri, one of al Qaeda's most dangerous military commanders and strategists, in a Predator airstrike yesterday in South Waziristan.

Kashmiri is said to be one of nine members of the al Qaeda-linked Harkat-ul Jihad Islami, or HUJI, who were killed in yesterday's Predator airstrike that leveled a compound in the Wana area of South Waziristan.

A Harkat-ul Jihad Islami spokesman named Abu Hanzla Kashir told Dawn that Kashmiri was killed in the attack. Kashir also threatened to attack the US to avenge Kashmiri's death.

"We confirm that our Amir (leader) and commander in chief, Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri, along with other companions, was martyred in an American drone strike on June 3, 2011, at 11:15 pm," Kashir told the Pakistani news channel, according to The Telegraph.

"The oppressor US is our only target and, God willing, we will take revenge on the U.S. soon with full force," Kashir said, according to CNN.

US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal said that Kashmiri was indeed a target of the attack, but they could not confirm that he was killed.

"HUJI's statement is a sure sign we got him, we are pretty confident he is dead but we cannot confirm 100 percent," one official told The Long War Journal. The area where Kashmiri was killed is under Taliban control.

Another HUJI leader, Qari Mohammad Idrees, told The News that Kashmiri was killed after traveling from South Waziristan to North Waziristan in an effort to dodge a rumored Pakistani military offensive.

"We lost our hero finally. He was the hero of Islam, Kashmir and Afghanistan," Idrees told The News.

The attack took place in an area of South Waziristan controlled by Mullah Nazir, a Taliban commander who has proudly admitted he is also an al Qaeda leader. The Pakistani military refuses to move against Nazir as he is considered a "good Taliban" leader because he does not attack the state. Nazir does shelter al Qaeda and other terror groups, and carries out attacks in Afghanistan.

Several other top al Qaeda leaders have been killed by Predator strikes in Nazir's territories. One of the most senior al Qaeda leaders killed was Midhat Mursi al Sayyid Umar, better known as Abu Khabab al Masri. Abu Khabab was killed along with four members of his staff in a Predator strike on July 28, 2008. Also killed on Nazir's turf were Osama al Kini (Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam), al Qaeda's operations chief in Pakistan; and Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, one of al Kini's senior aides. Both men were wanted by the US for their involvement in the 1998 suicide attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Kashmiri's death would be a major blow to al Qaeda and allied terror groups in the region. He has been seen as one of the contenders to take command of al Qaeda since the death of Osama bin Laden in a May 2, 2011 raid by US SEALs in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

US intelligence considers Kashmiri to be one of al Qaeda's most effective commanders. He served as the operational chief of the Harkat-ul Jihad Islami, an al Qaeda-linked group that operates in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. The Harkat-ul Jihad Islami was designated as a terrorist entity by the US in 2010, and Kashmiri was added to the list of global terrorists for his role in leading HUJI as well as for his links to al Qaeda.

Kashmiri has also been linked to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, which has viewed him as an asset due to his prowess in fighting the Indians in Jammu and Kashmir. He is said to have been a member of Pakistan's Special Services Group, although he denied it in an interview with the Asia Times in 2010. One legend attributed to Kashmiri is that he beheaded a sepoy and presented the head to General Pervez Musharraf.

In late 2003, Kashmiri was detained by Pakistani police for his alleged role in an attempted assassination of Musharraf, but he was inexplicably released in February 2004. Kashmiri resurfaced in 2007 after the Pakistani military assault on the Lal Masjid in Islamabad and assumed command of Brigade 313. Kashmiri expanded Brigade 313's leadership cadre and rank and file, bringing in members of terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Laskhar-e-Jhangvi, and a host of other terror groups, as well as members of Pakistan's military and intelligence services.

As the leader of Brigade 313, Kashmiri took little time in turning on select targets in Pakistan. Brigade 313 has been behind many of the high-profile attacks and bombings inside Pakistan, including multiple assassination attempts against former President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Gilani. He also orchestrated the 2009 attack on Pakistani Army General Headquarters in Rawalpindi and the assault on a naval base in Karachi in May 2011.

Kashmiri was involved in the assassination of Major General Faisal Alvi, the retired commander of the Special Services Group, in Rawalpindi in late 2008. Alvi was killed just months after sending a letter to General Ashfaz Pervez Kayani, Pakistan's top military officer, in which he threatened to expose two Pakistani generals' involvement with the Taliban. Also, Kashmiri reportedly drafted a plan to assassinate General Kayani, but the plan was canceled by al Qaeda's senior leadership.

But Kashmiri's sights were not limited to Pakistan. He is thought to have played a major role in the multi-pronged suicide attack against government and security installations in the eastern Afghan province of Khost in May 2009.

Al Qaeda recognized Kashmiri's ability, and he was picked to lead the Lashkar al Zil, al Qaeda's paramilitary Shadow Army, which operates along the Afghan-Pakistani border. Kashmiri took control of al Qaeda's military forces after its prior leader, Abdullah Sa'ad al Libi, was killed in a US Predator airstrike in late 2008.

Kashmiri was well-suited for the role, as he has long had experience in running camps in the region. "Since 2001, Kashmiri has led HUJI training camps that specialized in terrorist operations, military tactics, and cross-border operations, including a militant training center in Miramshah, North Waziristan," according to the US Treasury report that added him to the list of specially designated global terrorists.

In 2009, al Qaeda give Kashmiri another top role in the terror network: he was appointed to serve as a member of al Qaeda's external operations network, which is assigned to strike at targets in the West. Kashmiri has been directly linked to one plot in the West. In January 2010, a US federal grand jury indicted Kashmiri for plotting to attack the Jyllands-Posten newspaper in Denmark for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archiv...#ixzz1OMaM9679

This guy was huge within Al Qaeda. If you guys haven't heard of him until now then I really can't describe it enough. His loss is virtually irreplaceable in terms of operational expertise.

Here's a Newsweek profile on him from last year, there was a VERY good chance of him (and not Zawahiri) being tapped as Bin Laden's successor in the aftermath of the compound raid, as he'd served as Bin Laden's de facto adjutant with the Afghan & Pakistani Taliban. There's also good evidence to suggest it was his men behind the recent attack on that Pakistani naval base.

Kashmiri was what's called an "operational lynchpin", he had a hand in almost everything Al Qaeda has been up to for quite some time, and his stature has only grown. Everything from the Mumbai terror mega-attack and was suspected of organizing operations in Europe, the UK, the U.S., and of course India. He was also supposedly a key liaison to Al Qaeda recruits from western countries. He was, in other words, an operational linchpin, which is why he’d been hunted relentlessly by American and Pakistani agents for years. In fact, we tried to kill him with a drone strike once before and thought we’d succeeded — until Kashmiri surfaced and gave a gloating interview to a reporter.

His death is an equal (if not greater) blow to Al Qaeda than Bin Laden's was, no joke.

[MadBurgerMaker]

I don't like the concept of drones,

Out of curiosity: why?

[Visna]

Out of curiosity: why?

Oh, lots of reasons. It's basically assasinations and I'm not particularly thrilled about the concept of foreign governments assasinating people they don't like. It's shady business, done without oversight and the sort of checks and balances that the western world prides itself upon. Not to mention that innocent people get blown to bits as well. They make waging war much more edible to the voting public at home, after all war is a pretty distant concept without anyone coming home in bodybags, but for the ones on the receiving end it looks an awful lot like war. The rules we set for outselves now will apply to others in the future, and I don't think the US public would find it perfectly reasonable if foreign states were to conduct drone attacks on US soil and killig US citizens.