High Target Value Terror Leader Killed in Missile Strike
January 30, 2008
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UPDATE: The death of Libyan-born Abu Laith al Libi was reported on militant websites, which praised him as a martyr who died helping lead a “holy war” against the West. While Al Libi’s death had not yet been confirmed by forensic evidence, a Western counter-terrorism official said intelligence agencies believed the postings were authentic, and that the militant had been killed within the last few days.
Some other senior Al Qaeda leaders may have died along with him, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss classified intelligence. “They have lost their senior paramilitary commander for Afghanistan,” the official said. “It doesn’t mean he couldn’t be replaced. But it does mean that Al Qaeda has lost a very seasoned commander with a great deal of experience.”
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Brian Maka said Al Libi was killed in Pakistan, but he provided no details and referred calls to the Pakistani government.
Officials would not comment on whether Al Libi’s death was related to a suspected CIA airstrike this week on an alleged Al Qaeda compound in the Waziristan region of northwest Pakistan.
Less than 48 hours before the report of Al Libi’s death emerged, residents had reported a missile strike on the small compound just outside the town of Mir Ali, which is considered a militant stronghold. Local officials had said about 12 people were killed in the strike late Monday or early Tuesday, most of them “foreigners” — Arabs and Central Asians, which fits the profile of Al Qaeda fighters present in the tribal areas.
Witnesses said they heard what they believed were Predator drones flying in the area shortly before the compound was hit. But on Wednesday and Thursday, Pakistani officials, including Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema and army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, denied any knowledge of the strike, or of Al Qaeda deaths in it.
Pakistani intelligence sources say they believe a “high-value” al Qaeda target was killed in a missile strike yesterday in the country’s tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
U.S. officials said there was no indication that the target was Osama bin Laden or his deputy Ayman al Zawahri, but one senior official told ABCNews.com the strike was aimed at one particular figure.
“We don’t know whether we got him yet, we are sorting through it,” the official said, indicating the intended target was a top leader of the terror group.
The official also ruled out as a target American al Qaeda Adam Gadahn, who appeared recently in a propaganda videotape.
“Gadahn may be recognizable to all of you, but he is really not that high up on the food chain in al Qaeda and not that important,” the official said.
Pakistani officials initially said that 12 suspected militants had been killed in a midnight strike against a home in a village in North Waziristan, Khushali Torikhel.
Both the Pakistani military and the CIA have used missile attacks in the past to target top al Qaeda leaders.
The CIA uses missiles attached to the unmanned Predator aircraft which fly over Pakistani airspace with tacit Pakistani government approval.
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