Posted on 05/24/2008 9:15:36 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
WASHINGTON -- An Al Qaeda figure killed in a U.S. airstrike in Pakistan last week is believed to have been an Algerian allegedly involved in training militants and plotting attacks against the West, officials said Friday.
The Algerian, known by the nickname Abu Sulayman Jazairi, apparently died May 14 in the strike that killed as many as 14 people and destroyed a compound near the village of Damadola, an Al Qaeda stronghold in northwestern Pakistan, officials said. A knowledgeable U.S. official and a senior European anti-terrorism official said Jazairi was thought to be dead.
U.S. anti-terrorism forces are targeting front-line planners in Pakistani hide-outs, and Jazairi would be another in a series of recent losses for the Al Qaeda leadership, the two officials said.
"He was a significant person within the Al Qaeda ranks," said the senior European official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. "Not in the top five, but he's up there. The suspicion is he was one of those individuals involved in training and targeting Western interests. There is uncorroborated intelligence that he was involved in plots against Europe."
Officials declined to discuss last week's operation because of political tension in Pakistan over U.S. airstrikes. The strength of Al Qaeda and the Taliban movement in the lawless tribal areas makes it difficult to independently confirm information there.
In fact, some doubt lingers about the identity of the man killed. This week, a senior Pakistani intelligence official said he believed the slain man was not the Algerian but another foreign militant. Despite the confusion, the U.S. and European officials said their information about the militant's identity seemed solid.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Jazairi was an explosives expert and "important terrorist trainer," the U.S. official said.
"When it comes to training, this individual was an important figure," the official said. "People like him are vital to terrorist plots. That doesn't mean he can't be replaced. But when Al Qaeda loses someone with his experience, it matters."
Results from a May 14 Airstrike in the FATA area of Pakistan.
Reminds me of General Juhziz the explosives expert from Command&Conquer Generals.
H/T to Hot Air for pointing to this article.
Missile strike against Taliban safe house in Bajaur, Pakistan
Update on action from the air strike posted on thread at post #5....
I knew we got a key individual when I read about the reaction in the area.
The locals only get pissed when a big dog gets his virgins.
Pakistani militant chief pledges to keep fighting foreign forces in Afghanistan
*********************EXCERPT**********************
"We are Muslims and the enemy of infidels," Mohammed told the gathering. "We will continue our jihad (holy war) in Afghanistan as long as the foreign allied forces are there."
Taliban commander's compound attacked in Bajaur Agency bordering Afghanistan
Posted by Dog ....
“He was a significant person within the Al Qaeda ranks,” said the senior European official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. “Not in the top five, but he’s up there. The suspicion is he was one of those individuals involved in training and targeting Western interests. There is uncorroborated intelligence that he was involved in plots against Europe.”
—
Good hunting and good hit!
I must not be paying close enough attention to the War on Radical Islam. I was not aware our guys were openly operating across the Pak border. Is this a new development?
It isn’t “open”.
But we have our ways of finding hot intel targets and taking them out from the air.
Oh, and the “airstrikes” come from pilotless drones.
Soulless killers taken out by soulless killing machines. I rather like the symmetry of that...
Regards,
GtG
and these drones are piloted 24/7 remotely from the US.
The increasing success and pace of airstrikes this year indicates that American spy agencies and their allies have made progress in infiltrating Al Qaeda in Pakistan, said Louis Caprioli, a former anti-terrorism chief of France's DST intelligence agency.
"You have to have good intelligence on the ground to hit a target like that," Caprioli said. "It requires human as well as technical intelligence. I think the money that the Americans are spreading around is having an effect.
"Also, there are troops in Afghanistan, prisoners being interrogated. This is a long-term effort that is paying off."
It DOES seem appropriate, doesn’t it?!
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