The strike came in Mir Ali which is to the Taliban what San Francisco is to liberals. One has to be believe that when you kill that many Taliban that there's gonna be at least a fairly high level commander among the bunch - let's sure hope so.
Well, the news out today is that there was a VERY high level commander killed and that was none other than Abu Yahya al-Libi, al Qaeda's second in command since bin Laden's death. Now, I'm not celebrating yet and that's why I asked the question in the blog post title - because this is Pakistan and the information out of Pakistan half the time is crap. And plus, we have no idea who this "U.S. official" is that is saying we are confident we got al-Libi. I'm not raining on the parade but I made the mistake of calling out the death of the Taliban leader Hakeemullah Mehsud about four times and each time he came back to life.
I'll be 100% sure when al Qaeda memorializes him on their website - which they will do if it is true.
The story comes from DAWN.
US confident it killed al Qaeda number two
WASHINGTON: The United States is highly confident that al Qaeda Number two Abu Yahya al-Libi was killed in a CIA drone strike in Pakistan, in what an official described Tuesday as a “major blow” to the group’s leadership.
The official told AFP that Washington had a “very high degree of confidence” that al-Libi was dead, and argued that his demise would severely hamper the capacity of core al Qaeda leaders to liaise with affiliated groups.
“It is significant,” the official said, terming the killing of al-Libi the most important blow against al Qaeda since US special forces troops swooped into Pakistan last year and killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Al-Libi, killed in a pre-dawn US drone strike Monday in North Waziristan, a Taliban and al Qaeda stronghold along the Afghan border, was a Libyan citizen with a $1 million price on his head.
A trusted lieutenant of bin Laden, Libi has appeared in countless al Qaeda videos and is considered the chief architect of its global propaganda machine.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that al-Libi had served as the group’s “general manager” and had overseen day-to-day operations in Pakistani tribal areas.
Al-Libi was also in charge of contacts with al Qaeda affiliates elsewhere, including al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a Yemen-based offshoot which has launched direct attacks against US targets, the official said.
The official described the killing of al-Libi as a “major blow” to al Qaeda’s core which would further pressure the group’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
No comments:
Post a Comment