DoD Confirms U.S. Strikes Killed Senior Terrorist Operatives

Terri Moon Cronk at the DoD News offers the below piece:

WASHINGTON December 7, 2015 — The Defense Department has confirmed the deaths of senior terrorist leaders in Libya and Somalia from recent U.S. airstrikes, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement today.

Cook said a Nov. 13 U.S. airstrike in Libya killed Iraqi national Abu Nabil, also known as Wissam Najm Abd Zayd al Zubaydi, a longtime al-Qaida operative and senior Libyan Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant leader.

“While not the first U.S. strike against terrorists in Libya, this was the first U.S. strike against an ISIL leader in Libya and it demonstrates we will go after ISIL leaders wherever they operate,” Cook said in the statement.

Somalian al-Shabaab Leader Killed

Abdirahman Sandhere, also known as “Ukash,” a senior leader in the al-Qaeda offshoot group al-Shabaab also is confirmed dead from U.S. military airstrikes in Somalia, Dec. 2, Cook said.

Two other al Shabaab-affiliated associates also were killed in the strike that specifically targeted Abdirahman Sandhere, he said.

“Ukash's removal from the battlefield is a significant blow to al-Shabaab,” Cook said, “And [it] reflects the painstaking work by our intelligence, military and law enforcement professionals.”

The death of Abdirahman Sandhere is an important step forward in the fight against the al-Shabaab organization, Cook emphasized.

“The United States will continue to use the tools at [its] disposal -- financial, diplomatic, intelligence and military -- to dismantle al Shabaab and other terrorist groups who threaten United States, [its] interests and persons,” he said.

Cook said the United States will continue to support its international partners, particularly the African Union Mission in Somalia, which is working to support the government of the Federal Republic of Somalia to build a secure and stable future for the Somali people.

U.S. Strikes Did Not Hit Syrian Army

This morning, Pentagon Press Operations Director Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters the airstrikes this weekend in Syria’s Darazor province that hit a Syrian army position did not result from U.S. operations.

“We did conduct four strikes in Darazor yesterday,” he said, and added the U.S. strikes were all against oil-well heads. These strikes, Davis added, were about 55 kilometers away from the strike where the Syrian army was reported to be.

The U.S. airstrikes did not hit vehicles nor personnel, Davis said.

“We have no reason to indicate any Syrian soldiers were anywhere near the area where we struck,” Davis emphasized.

“We maintain exacting procedures and strict protocols to be precise in our strikes, and we take significant steps during targeting processes to prevent collateral damage,” he said.

“As you know, we’ve not had any reason to target [Syrian President Bashar Assad’s] regime or the Syrian army, Davis said. “We’re at war only with ISIL.”

U.S. Airstrike Kills Senior Al-Qaida Leader

The Defense Department's DOD News released the below information today:

WASHINGTON, July 24, 2015 - The Defense Department confirmed that a senior al-Qaida leader was killed earlier this month by a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement issued today.

"We have confirmed that Abu Khalil al-Sudani, a high-ranking al-Qaida operational commander, was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Bermal district, Paktika province, Afghanistan, on July 11, 2015," Cook said in the statement.

Al-Sudani, a senior shura member and head of al-Qaida suicide and explosive operations, is directly linked to external attack plotting against the United States, Cook said in the statement.

The deceased al-Qaida leader also had directed operations against coalition, Afghan and Pakistani forces and maintained a close association with al-Qaida's top leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Cook added.

Al-Sudani was one of three known violent extremists killed in the strike, Cook said in the statement.

Al-Sudani's demise will further degrade al-Qaida operations across the globe, Cook added.

Al-Qaida Weakened, But Still Poses Threat, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta Says

By Karen Parrish, American Forces Press Service

NEW YORK, Sept. 6, 2011 - The terrorist attacks of a decade ago have in some ways strengthened the United States, and operations against al-Qaida have left it much less capable, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said today.

"As tragic as 9/11 was, we have drawn tremendous inspiration [from it]," the secretary told reporters after touring the National September 11 Memorial and Museum site here.

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, brought the nation together in a commitment that such horror "will never happen again," Panetta said.

"Since 9/11, we have achieved significant success going after al-Qaida and ... [its] leadership," he said.

Of the top four al-Qaida leaders, three are dead, he said, and many lower-level leaders have been killed or captured.

"I think that has significantly undermined the command and control of al-Qaida, and their ability to plan the kind of 9/11 attacks that occurred here," he said.

The nation's domestic security is also stronger than it was 10 years ago, he said, crediting cooperation among intelligence organizations, the Department of Homeland Security and "a number of other agencies" with that improvement.

"Having said that, it's very important for us to also pledge, not only to the families of those that died but to all Americans, that we will forever remain vigilant," the secretary said.
The main threats emerging from al-Qaida now emanate from nodes such as those in Yemen and Somalia, he said.

"They continue to plan attacks, and I don't think we can take anything for granted," he said.

Yemen "has risen to the top of the list" of al-Qaida threats, and remains an important counter-terrorism focus for the United States, the secretary said.

The leader of al-Qaida in Yemen, Anwar al-Awlaki, "has continued to urge individuals to attack this country, and continues, himself, to represent a threat to this country," Panetta said.

On another front, Pakistani forces yesterday announced the capture of Younis al-Mauritani and two other senior al-Qaida operatives in Pakistan.

"This is ... particularly encouraging, because we thought [Mauritani] was someone who was a real threat," the secretary said.

Panetta said he is also encouraged by Pakistan's role in the capture.

"We have had that kind of cooperation [from Pakistan] in the past," he said. "We've had kind of a rocky relationship of late, but we have continued to urge the Pakistanis to work with us ... [against] terrorist targets, and this is an indication that they are cooperating with us in that effort."

Depsite gains made over the past decade, jihadist ideology remains an attraction to potential terrorists, and al-Qaida is still a threat to U.S. security, Panetta said.

"We have to continue the pressure on al-Qaida, but there is no question ... [on] the tenth anniversary of 9/11, that we have made significant progress," he said.

Released Videos Show Bin Laden Still Played Active Role In Al-Qaida

By Cheryl Pellerin, American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2011 - Five video clips released to reporters today at the Pentagon show that Osama bin Laden was still an "active player" in al-Qaida operations, a senior intelligence official said.

Since bin Laden's May 1 death at the hands of American forces inside his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, a multi-agency task force has worked around the clock to sift through "the most significant amount of intelligence ever collected from a senior terrorist," the official said.

"Materials reviewed over the past several days clearly show that bin Laden remained an active leader in al-Qaida," he added, "providing strategic, operational and tactical instructions to the group."

From digital audio and video files, and from printed materials, computer equipment, recording devices and handwritten documents, analysts are learning that "bin Laden continued to direct even tactical details of the group's management and to encourage plotting," he said.

In a statement released today, CIA Director Leon Panetta said, "The material found in the compound only further confirms how important it was to go after bin Laden." Panetta added that, "Since 9/11, this is what the American people have expected of us. In this critical operation, we delivered."

A CIA-led multiagency task force is triaging, cataloging and analyzing the materials, drawing on expertise from the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI, the National Media Exploitation Center, the National Counterterrorism Center, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and the Treasury Department.

In a compound the senior intelligence official characterized as "an active command-and-control center for al-Qaida's top leader," bin Laden focused on inspiring and engineering international terrorism and on attacking the United States, especially transportation and infrastructure targets, the official said.

"The materials have already provided us some important insights and we expect to learn more about al-Qaida and its affiliates, their plans and intentions, and any threats they currently pose," he said.

The five short videos released today all show the al-Qaida leader delivering messages to his audience, but in these versions the sound has been removed.

"It would be inappropriate to spread the words of terrorists and their propaganda messages," the official said, "especially Osama bin Laden's."

The first video is a complete but unreleased message by bin Laden to the American people, produced sometime between Oct. 9 and Nov. 5, 2010, the official said.

In the video bin Laden has trimmed and dyed black his normally gray beard.

His message condemns U.S. policy and denigrates capitalism, the official said.

The second video shows a gray-bearded bin Laden in a room, watching live or taped video clips of himself, possibly from news outlets, on a television.

The intelligence official said the date of the video can't yet be determined, but he noted that bin Laden's beard was gray at the time of his death.

"In this video he has not dyed or trimmed his beard," the intelligence official said, "suggesting that this practice was one he reserved for films he planned to distribute."

Bin Laden, the official noted, "jealously guarded his image."

The final three short clips show brief video rehearsal sessions of a black-bearded bin Laden.

"The collection is large and is proving valuable, and it will take time to go through it," he said. "But we are already disseminating intelligence across the U.S. government based on what we've found."

Bin Laden's identity was confirmed in several ways, the official said.

A woman in the compound identified him to the assault team as Osama bin Laden, and CIA specialists compared photos of the body and of bin Laden, using facial recognition methods that match points of similarity of unique facial features, including the size and shape of a persons eyes, ears and nose.

With this method, the official said, "we were able to determine with 95 percent certainty that the body was his."

DNA analysis conducted separately by Defense Department and CIA labs positively identified Osama bin Laden, he added, as did DNA samples collected from bin Laden's body and compared to a comprehensive DNA profile derived from bin Laden's large extended family.

Al-Qaida released its own statement May 6 acknowledging bin Laden's death.

It is noteworthy, the official said, "that the group did not announce a new leader, suggesting it is still trying to deal with bin Laden's demise."

So far, the senior intelligence official said, there is no indication that Pakistan's government was aware that bin Laden was at this compound in Abbottabad.

"We're asking some questions, and the Pakistanis themselves have said that they're asking questions of themselves," he added, noting that the U.S. relationship with Pakistan is important and complicated.

"It's important that we find ways in the future to work together, especially on the counterterrorism front," he said.

"This is a common fight," the official added. "Bin Laden is responsible for supporting operations that have killed scores of Pakistanis as well, so there is a mutual interest in us working together."

Going forward, he said, "we need to find ways to solidify that relationship." 

Ayman Al-Zawahiri Could Replace Bin Laden On FBI's Most Wanted List

Aliyah Shahid at The New York Daily News wrote an interesting piece on al-Qaida's number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and how he may replace the recently slain Osama bin Laden as the leader of the terrorist group, as well as replacing bin Laden on the FBI's Most Wanted List.

You can read the newspaper story via the below link:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/05/04/2011-05-04_osama_bin_laden_dead_ayman_alzawahiri_could_replace_him_as_alqaeda_chief_fbis_mo.html?r=news

I love the above Bill Bramhall cartoon that accompanied the newspaper story.