*** This is precisely why you should not rely so heavily on technology to do this kind of job. As we have seen many, many times - these strikes cause more long-term harm than good. Beef up the HUMINT sections people! MS ***
FROM: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/100525/n_top_news/cnews_us_yemen
SANAA (Reuters) - An airstrike in Yemen targeting al Qaeda missed its mark on Tuesday and killed a mediator by mistake, prompting members of his tribe to blow up a crude oil pipeline in clashes that followed, a provincial official said.
A Yemeni news website seen as aligned with the opposition said the strike was carried out by a drone, a weapon that the Yemen military is not believed to have. U.S. forces helping Yemen fight al Qaeda have used drones in the past, but a U.S. diplomat declined to say if the United States was involved.
The strike could heighten anti-U.S. sentiment and broaden al Qaeda's appeal among some influential Yemeni tribes, threatening efforts to stabilize a country neighboring oil power Saudi Arabia and busy international shipping lanes, analysts said.
The botched bombing of a U.S. airliner on December 25, claimed by al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing, spurred Washington to step up security help to President Ali Abdullah Saleh's government, which faces multiple grave challenges apart from militancy.
The Yemeni mediator, who had been trying to persuade members of the global militant group to surrender, was killed instantly in a pre-dawn strike on his car in Yemen's mountainous Maarib province that also killed three other people.
"Jaber al-Shabwani, the deputy governor of Maarib, was killed with a number of his relatives and travel companions in an airstrike targeting the Wadi Obeida area, where al Qaeda elements are present," the provincial official said.
"The deputy governor was on a mediation mission to persuade al Qaeda elements to hand themselves over to the authorities, but it seems that the airstrike missed its target and struck his car, killing him instantly in addition to three companions," he added, declining to be named. Two others were wounded.
The strike provoked clashes between the army and members of Shabwani's tribe, and the tribesmen attacked the pipeline that ferries crude oil from Maarib, east of the capital Sanaa, to the Red Sea coast, the official said.
Yemen, which borders the world's top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, moved to the forefront of Western security concerns after al Qaeda's Yemen-based regional arm claimed responsibility for a failed attempt to bomb a U.S.-bound plane in December.
The United States and Saudi Arabia want Yemen, which is trying to end a conflict with Shi'ite rebels in the north while separatist sentiment bubbles over in the south, to focus its efforts on fighting al Qaeda, seen as a greater global threat.
NO EXPORT DISRUPTION
A statement from a Yemeni High Security Council source expressed sorrow for the death of Shabwani and called him a martyr, but did not specify who carried out the strike or what type of aircraft was used.
A U.S. diplomat would not discuss the attack. Washington backed Sanaa's fight against al Qaeda by training Yemeni forces, sharing information and providing equipment, and recognized al Qaeda in Yemen was a threat to both countries, he said.
"So we are working together. The Yemeni forces always take the lead in operations carried out in Yemen using some of that support that we have provided for them through training and information sharing..." the diplomat said.
Asked directly if the U.S. was involved in the strike, he said: "If you want operation-specific details you need to contact the Yemeni government."
Yemen and U.S. military targeted al Qaeda figures in Yemen, the ancestral home of the network's leader Osama bin Laden, after the September 11, 2001, attacks. A CIA drone fired a missile that killed al Qaeda's leader in Yemen in 2002.
Yemen's foreign minister said earlier this year that Yemen needed logistical support to help fight al Qaeda but would not allow foreign covert operations against the group on its soil.
In Maarib province where Tuesday's airstrike took place, clashes with the mediator's tribe spread from the countryside to Maarib town, where dozens of tribal gunmen opened fire on government buildings. The army was returning fire. At least seven people were injured, a local official said.
Security officials said angry tribes blocked the main road between Sanaa and Maarib, preventing trucks carrying cooking gas and petrol from reaching the capital.
Tuesday's strike had likely intended to hit Ayed al-Shabwani, an al Qaeda leader whose farm in Maarib province was the target of a strike in January, the provincial official said. Shabwani is a relative of the mediator who was killed.
Shipping companies said there was no impact on exports from the attack on the pipeline, which ferries crude to the Ras Isa offshore export terminal. Authorities could not immediately reach the affected area.
Showing posts with label drone strike yemen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drone strike yemen. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
ANWAR AL AWLAKI & KILLING NON COMBATANTS
*** SO by this logic, who is responsible for the deaths during the 5 years the Mujahideen were fighting each other before the rise of the Taliban? How many thousands died?
And is it by this same logic that you justify the killing of Muslims - of Afghans - by bombing the market places frequented by women and children? How about attacking Muslims in the Masaajid and pronouncing kufr and nifaaq as if to say you do indeed see into the hearts of people? Is this what Muhammad (SallAllahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) did?
In the worst times - when battles raged - did he (Peace Be Upon Him) EVER slay his own people to advance his goals? Even ONCE did he (Peace Be Upon Him) do this? You and the likes of you have to answer for the blood of ALL innocent people - do you really feel that confident as if to say Allah has made you of the Ashra Mubasharah? Then meet your maker willingly and brazenly, Anwar. MS ***
FROM: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/world/middleeast/24awlaki.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
WASHINGTON — In a newly released video, Anwar al-Awlaki, the Muslim cleric believed to be an inspiration for a series of recent terrorism plots, justifies the mass killing of American civilians and taunts the authorities to come find him in Yemen.
Terrorism experts said on Sunday that the full video interview, excerpts of which had previously been released, shows an increasing radicalization by Mr. Awlaki, an American-born imam who this year became the first United States citizen to be placed on a Central Intelligence Agency list of terrorists approved as a target for killing.
In his remarks, Mr. Awlaki praises the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a Northwest flight headed to Detroit.
“Those who could have been killed in that plane are a drop in the sea,” Mr. Awlaki said, in a translation provided by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors statements by jihadists. “And we should treat them the same way they treat us and attack them the same way they attack us.”
Mr. Awlaki has been on record defending attacks on American military targets, both overseas and within the United States. He has praised the Fort Hood, Tex., shootings, carried out in November by an Army psychiatrist with whom Mr. Awlaki had exchanged e-mail messages. But the new video shows that Mr. Awlaki is now urging his supporters not to distinguish between military and civilian targets, citing what he claims are “no less than a million women and children” who had been killed as a result of American military action in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Mr. Awlaki’s sermons have drawn followers in spots around the world. A senior administration official said on Sunday that it had become clear that Mr. Awlaki “is not just someone who seeks to inspire others to undertake murderous acts, but has been and continues to be operational in plans against our interests and against the homeland.”
The interview also shows how tight the collaboration has become between Mr. Awlaki and the Yemen-based group known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, said Richard Wachtel, a spokesman for the Middle East Media Research Institute, which also translated the remarks, which were released by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Qaeda leaders there recently released a statement defending Mr. Awlaki and offering him protection.
In the video, Mr. Awlaki said he had cut off telephone communications to avoid being detected.
“If the Americans want me, let them search for me,” he said. “Allah is the best protector.”
Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, made it clear on Sunday that the search for Mr. Awlaki was very much underway. “We are actively trying to find him and many others throughout the world that seek to do our country and to do our interests great harm,” Mr. Gibbs said on the CBS News program “Face the Nation.”
And is it by this same logic that you justify the killing of Muslims - of Afghans - by bombing the market places frequented by women and children? How about attacking Muslims in the Masaajid and pronouncing kufr and nifaaq as if to say you do indeed see into the hearts of people? Is this what Muhammad (SallAllahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) did?
In the worst times - when battles raged - did he (Peace Be Upon Him) EVER slay his own people to advance his goals? Even ONCE did he (Peace Be Upon Him) do this? You and the likes of you have to answer for the blood of ALL innocent people - do you really feel that confident as if to say Allah has made you of the Ashra Mubasharah? Then meet your maker willingly and brazenly, Anwar. MS ***
FROM: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/world/middleeast/24awlaki.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
WASHINGTON — In a newly released video, Anwar al-Awlaki, the Muslim cleric believed to be an inspiration for a series of recent terrorism plots, justifies the mass killing of American civilians and taunts the authorities to come find him in Yemen.
Terrorism experts said on Sunday that the full video interview, excerpts of which had previously been released, shows an increasing radicalization by Mr. Awlaki, an American-born imam who this year became the first United States citizen to be placed on a Central Intelligence Agency list of terrorists approved as a target for killing.
In his remarks, Mr. Awlaki praises the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a Northwest flight headed to Detroit.
“Those who could have been killed in that plane are a drop in the sea,” Mr. Awlaki said, in a translation provided by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors statements by jihadists. “And we should treat them the same way they treat us and attack them the same way they attack us.”
Mr. Awlaki has been on record defending attacks on American military targets, both overseas and within the United States. He has praised the Fort Hood, Tex., shootings, carried out in November by an Army psychiatrist with whom Mr. Awlaki had exchanged e-mail messages. But the new video shows that Mr. Awlaki is now urging his supporters not to distinguish between military and civilian targets, citing what he claims are “no less than a million women and children” who had been killed as a result of American military action in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Mr. Awlaki’s sermons have drawn followers in spots around the world. A senior administration official said on Sunday that it had become clear that Mr. Awlaki “is not just someone who seeks to inspire others to undertake murderous acts, but has been and continues to be operational in plans against our interests and against the homeland.”
The interview also shows how tight the collaboration has become between Mr. Awlaki and the Yemen-based group known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, said Richard Wachtel, a spokesman for the Middle East Media Research Institute, which also translated the remarks, which were released by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Qaeda leaders there recently released a statement defending Mr. Awlaki and offering him protection.
In the video, Mr. Awlaki said he had cut off telephone communications to avoid being detected.
“If the Americans want me, let them search for me,” he said. “Allah is the best protector.”
Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, made it clear on Sunday that the search for Mr. Awlaki was very much underway. “We are actively trying to find him and many others throughout the world that seek to do our country and to do our interests great harm,” Mr. Gibbs said on the CBS News program “Face the Nation.”
Thursday, December 24, 2009
ANWAR AWLAKI KILLED BY DRONE STRIKE?!
*** No confirmation YET ***
*** http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/25/world/main6022035.shtml says Awlaki was NOT killed. ***
Yemeni airstrike targets top al Qaeda leaders
(From Intelwire)
The leader and the second in command of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as well as a radical, Yemeni-American cleric who is said to have inspired the Ft. Hood massacre, are said to have been killed during an airstrike in Yemen today, according to Yemeni officials. The deaths have not been confirmed by the US.
The Yemeni Air Force targeted Nasir al Wuhayshi, the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and his deputy Said al Shihri, as they gathered for a high-level meeting of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
The terror group's top leaders were thought to have been gathering at the home of Anwar al Awlaki, the Yemeni-American cleric who provided religious justification for US Army Major Nidal Hasan to carry out a deadly shooting spree against US soldiers in Ft. Hood, Texas.
Wuhayshi and Shihri are said to have held the meeting at Awlaki's home to plot a response to last week's controversial cruise missile attack against terror camps in Sana'a and Abyan, Saba News, the official outlet of the Yemeni government, reported. The strike took place in the Al Said district in the Shabwa province. The government claimed that "about 30 al Qaeda suspects from Yemeni and foreign nationalities" were killed.
Wuhayshi is thought to have survived the strike, but the status of Shihri and Awlaki is unknown, according to the Yemen Observer.
US officials contacted by The Long War Journal would not comment on the status of Wuhayshi, Shihri, or Awlaki, nor would they discuss any US role in today's strike. The US carried out the Dec. 17 strike using air-launched cruise missiles.
The Yemeni government claimed 34 al Qaeda operatives were killed during the Dec. 17 strikes, including Abu Salih al Kazimi and two wanted Saudis, two Egyptians, and two Chechens. Kazimi commanded a terror training camp in Abyan and was the leader of a cell that killed eight Spanish tourists in Marib in July 2007. Opposition figures in Abyan claimed that 81 civilians were killed and 213 were wounded, all of them civilians. But al Mohammed Saleh al Awlaki, an al Qaeda leader in the region, addressed a crowd in Abyan and said the group's fight is against the US and that the group not wish to target the Yemeni military.
Wuhayshi is a top al Qaeda commander and a rising star in the organization. Wuhayshi served as Osama bin Laden's aide-de-camp and was one of 23 al Qaeda operatives to escape from a Yemeni jail in 2006. He is considered to be a top contender to take command of the global terror network if al Qaeda's central leadership based in Pakistan is decapitated in Pakistan, a senior US military intelligence official who closely tracks al Qaeda's network told The Long War Journal.
Shihri is a Saudi citizen who was detained by the US and transferred to Guantanamo Bay for his connections to al Qaeda. He served as an "al Qaeda travel facilitator" in Mashad, Iran, where he would help al Qaeda operatives enter Afghanistan. He was also connected to the Saudi 'charity' al Wafa, which has been designated under Executive Order 13224 as a terrorist organization and is briefly mentioned in the 9/11 Commission’s report as an al Qaeda front.
Shihri was released from Guantánamo in November of 2007 and placed into Saudi custody, where he then entered a rehabilitation program for former jihadists that is run by the government. Shihri played a direct role in al Qaeda’s attack on the American embassy in Sana'a, Yemen's capital, in September of 2008. That attack killed 10 civilians, along with six terrorists.
Awlaki is believed to be the cleric for three of the Sept. 11 hijackers. He fled to Yemen in 2002 after coming under suspicion and is associated with a Yemeni university run by Abdulmajeed al Zindani, Osama bin Laden’s spiritual advisor. Awlaki was in direct email communication with Major Hasan before the latter killed 13 US soldiers and civilians at a staging center for troops deploying overseas. Awlaki recently disclosed his conversations with Hasan to Al Jazeera.
"He was asking about killing American soldiers and officers. [He asked] whether this is a religiously legitimate act or not," al Awlaki told Aljazeera.net, according to a report in CBS News.
"The first message was asking for an edict regarding the [possibility] of a Muslim soldier killing his colleagues who serve with him in the American army," Awlaki continued. "In other messages, Nidal was clarifying his position regarding the killing of Israeli civilians. He was in support of this, and in his messages he mentioned the religious justifications for targeting the Jews with missiles. Then there were some messages in which he asked for a way through which he could transfer some funds to us [and by this] participate in charitable activities."
*** http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/25/world/main6022035.shtml says Awlaki was NOT killed. ***
Yemeni airstrike targets top al Qaeda leaders
(From Intelwire)
The leader and the second in command of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as well as a radical, Yemeni-American cleric who is said to have inspired the Ft. Hood massacre, are said to have been killed during an airstrike in Yemen today, according to Yemeni officials. The deaths have not been confirmed by the US.
The Yemeni Air Force targeted Nasir al Wuhayshi, the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and his deputy Said al Shihri, as they gathered for a high-level meeting of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
The terror group's top leaders were thought to have been gathering at the home of Anwar al Awlaki, the Yemeni-American cleric who provided religious justification for US Army Major Nidal Hasan to carry out a deadly shooting spree against US soldiers in Ft. Hood, Texas.
Wuhayshi and Shihri are said to have held the meeting at Awlaki's home to plot a response to last week's controversial cruise missile attack against terror camps in Sana'a and Abyan, Saba News, the official outlet of the Yemeni government, reported. The strike took place in the Al Said district in the Shabwa province. The government claimed that "about 30 al Qaeda suspects from Yemeni and foreign nationalities" were killed.
Wuhayshi is thought to have survived the strike, but the status of Shihri and Awlaki is unknown, according to the Yemen Observer.
US officials contacted by The Long War Journal would not comment on the status of Wuhayshi, Shihri, or Awlaki, nor would they discuss any US role in today's strike. The US carried out the Dec. 17 strike using air-launched cruise missiles.
The Yemeni government claimed 34 al Qaeda operatives were killed during the Dec. 17 strikes, including Abu Salih al Kazimi and two wanted Saudis, two Egyptians, and two Chechens. Kazimi commanded a terror training camp in Abyan and was the leader of a cell that killed eight Spanish tourists in Marib in July 2007. Opposition figures in Abyan claimed that 81 civilians were killed and 213 were wounded, all of them civilians. But al Mohammed Saleh al Awlaki, an al Qaeda leader in the region, addressed a crowd in Abyan and said the group's fight is against the US and that the group not wish to target the Yemeni military.
Wuhayshi is a top al Qaeda commander and a rising star in the organization. Wuhayshi served as Osama bin Laden's aide-de-camp and was one of 23 al Qaeda operatives to escape from a Yemeni jail in 2006. He is considered to be a top contender to take command of the global terror network if al Qaeda's central leadership based in Pakistan is decapitated in Pakistan, a senior US military intelligence official who closely tracks al Qaeda's network told The Long War Journal.
Shihri is a Saudi citizen who was detained by the US and transferred to Guantanamo Bay for his connections to al Qaeda. He served as an "al Qaeda travel facilitator" in Mashad, Iran, where he would help al Qaeda operatives enter Afghanistan. He was also connected to the Saudi 'charity' al Wafa, which has been designated under Executive Order 13224 as a terrorist organization and is briefly mentioned in the 9/11 Commission’s report as an al Qaeda front.
Shihri was released from Guantánamo in November of 2007 and placed into Saudi custody, where he then entered a rehabilitation program for former jihadists that is run by the government. Shihri played a direct role in al Qaeda’s attack on the American embassy in Sana'a, Yemen's capital, in September of 2008. That attack killed 10 civilians, along with six terrorists.
Awlaki is believed to be the cleric for three of the Sept. 11 hijackers. He fled to Yemen in 2002 after coming under suspicion and is associated with a Yemeni university run by Abdulmajeed al Zindani, Osama bin Laden’s spiritual advisor. Awlaki was in direct email communication with Major Hasan before the latter killed 13 US soldiers and civilians at a staging center for troops deploying overseas. Awlaki recently disclosed his conversations with Hasan to Al Jazeera.
"He was asking about killing American soldiers and officers. [He asked] whether this is a religiously legitimate act or not," al Awlaki told Aljazeera.net, according to a report in CBS News.
"The first message was asking for an edict regarding the [possibility] of a Muslim soldier killing his colleagues who serve with him in the American army," Awlaki continued. "In other messages, Nidal was clarifying his position regarding the killing of Israeli civilians. He was in support of this, and in his messages he mentioned the religious justifications for targeting the Jews with missiles. Then there were some messages in which he asked for a way through which he could transfer some funds to us [and by this] participate in charitable activities."
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