Posted on 11/04/2002 2:40:09 PM PST by Pharmboy
Official: CIA Killed Al Qaeda Suspects in Yemen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A missile fired by an unmanned CIA (news - web sites) drone hit a car believed to be carrying suspected al Qaeda members in Yemen Sunday and killed several occupants, a U.S. official said Monday.
Mon Nov 4, 5:18 PM ET A Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is seen with a Hellfire-C laser guided missile under one wing in this file photo from a February 21, 2001 test flight at Nellis Airforce Base in Nevada. A missile fired by an unmanned CIA (news - web sites) drone hit a car believed to be carrying suspected al Qaeda members in Yemen November 4, 2002 and killed several occupants a U.S. official said November 5. Six alleged al Qaeda members were believed killed including a key suspect in the bombing of the USS Cole (news - web sites). While the CIA is known to operate armed Predator aircraft, it could not be confirmed if the Predator was used in this attack. (USAFMC/Reuters)
The official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters the American military was not involved in the attack, which reports from Sanaa said killed six alleged al Qaeda members, including a key suspect in a bombing attack on the U.S. warship Cole in Aden two years ago.
"As I understand it, it was an agency drone" that conducted the weekend strike, said the U.S. official, who did not provide any details.
The Defense Department and CIA refused to comment on the incident, but Yemen's news agency reported in Sanaa that a car explosion had killed six alleged members of al Qaeda. The radical Muslin group led by fugitive Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) is blamed by Washington for the devastating attacks on America in September of last year.
This scumbag probably got intercepted by NSA while making his final plans to attack another one of our ships.
LOL! By that I suspect you mean Iridium or Globalstar, both of which are being heavily subsidized (i.e., used) by DOD. Yes, they're encrypted. But you know that DOD has the keys.
Excellent.
Nice try poop. nti
I think you just take a shot when you've got one, and this one happened to be a couple of days b4 an election........ timing is everything. Including being in the wrong place at the wrong time for those terrorist scumbags.....
The fact of the attack itself has been all over the news. The only mystery involved (and therefore the only reason for leaking) was who did it. AFP reports that the Yemeni gov't is claiming responsibility, whereas this unnamed source is giving credit to the CIA.
There have been many reports of a helicopter in the area, which seems to lend credence to AFP's version of the story.
Personally, I tend to think it was a joint operation -- the predator guided the helicopter to the site, and the helo made the kill. This avoids the diplomatic problems associated with a CIA hit in the ME.
This leak is convenient in that, even if it's not true in this case, Saddam and others know it's plausible based on our effective use of Predator-based missiles in Afghanistan.
"Achmed, we must be very careful if we see any silly looking model airplanes following us."
Not to worry, Achmed. You won't be seeing them.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Totally cool. It makes me laugh now that I look back at the press reporting that a car just "blew up", and nobody knew why. heh heh
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