CAIRO: The leader of Al Qaeda confirmed the death of the group’s second-in-command, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in northwestern Pakistan in June.
In a video posted late Monday on militant websites, Al Qaeda chief Ayman Al Zawahri described his late lieutenant Abu Yahya Al Libi as a “lion of jihad and knowledge.”
The killing of Al Libi, who was Libyan by birth, was the biggest setback to Al Qaeda since the death of Osama Bin Laden.
Al Libi, whose real name was Hassan Mohammed Qaid, was considered a media-savvy and charismatic leader with religious credentials. He rose to prominence in the group after escaping from the U.S. military prison at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan in 2005.
Al Qaeda has definitely suffered a lot through drones and TTP has also received some setbacks in CIA’s drive. I wish our military were equally successful in eliminating TTP goons
Al Qaeda has definitely suffered a lot through drones and TTP has also received some setbacks in CIA's drive. I wish our military were equally successful in eliminating TTP goons :(
It is my belief that the drone attacks are done specifically to undermine Pakistan, and for no other reason. 9 out of 10 times, the victim of a drone attack is an innocent civilian, who never gets talked of. Yet when one main target is killed after 1000 innocent targets, it is splashed across the media as if they have won the war.
Drone attacks are as fruitless in the war against Alqaeda as NATOs war against Afghanistan/Iraq. Alqaeda/Taliban are not groups with a unified agenda. These are ragtag guerillas, with 100s of smaller groups within the larger group. Its not as if Osama/Mullah Omar or any other so called leader of these parties was/is running the show single handedly. Eliminating the so called top leadership will not serve to eliminate terrorism. As a matter of fact, it is only creating more terrorists as a result of the 1000s of innocents that are dying as collateral damage.
We have heard of so many Alqaeda number 1s and number 2s having been killed over the years. Yet the group still exists, both in Iraq and in Afghanistan, right under America's nose. And all America does is blame Pakistan for it. Talk about misleading the world.
