[h=1]U.S. Drone Kills a Top Figure in Al Qaeda’s Yemen Branch[/h]
By SCOTT SHANEAPRIL 14, 2015
Ibrahim al-RubeishCreditU.S. State Department Rewards For Justice, via Associated Press
WASHINGTON — An American drone strike has killed a top ideologue and spokesman for Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen, the terrorist group announced Tuesday. The spokesman, Ibrahim al-Rubeish, a 35-year-old Saudi citizen, had been held for five years in the United States military prison at Guantánamo Bay.
A statement from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, posted on Twitter, said that Mr. Rubeish was killed Monday in what it called a “hate-filled Crusader strike” near Al Mukalla, a city on Yemen’s southern coast.
Since 2009, Mr. Rubeish has been the group’s voice in many important pronouncements, including a video eulogy for Anwar al-Awlaki, the American cleric killed in a drone strike in 2011.
By SCOTT SHANEAPRIL 14, 2015
Ibrahim al-RubeishCreditU.S. State Department Rewards For Justice, via Associated Press
WASHINGTON — An American drone strike has killed a top ideologue and spokesman for Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen, the terrorist group announced Tuesday. The spokesman, Ibrahim al-Rubeish, a 35-year-old Saudi citizen, had been held for five years in the United States military prison at Guantánamo Bay.
A statement from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, posted on Twitter, said that Mr. Rubeish was killed Monday in what it called a “hate-filled Crusader strike” near Al Mukalla, a city on Yemen’s southern coast.
Since 2009, Mr. Rubeish has been the group’s voice in many important pronouncements, including a video eulogy for Anwar al-Awlaki, the American cleric killed in a drone strike in 2011.
Mr. Rubeish, the latest of a half-dozen senior Qaeda operatives killed by American strikes in Yemen over the past year, was drawn into the terrorist network as a young man and rose nearly to the top of Al Qaeda’s most dangerous affiliate. The statement said Mr. Rubeish “spent nearly two decades as a mujahid,” an Islamic fighter, “in the cause of Allah, battling against America and its agents,” according to a translation by the Site Intelligence Group.
American counterterrorism officials say that killing operatives of the Yemen affiliate has kept it off balance, making it harder to plot against the United States. But in the judgment of most experts, the Qaeda branch there is at least as strong as it was before American drone strikes began in Yemen in 2009, in part as a result of political chaos in the country.
But Gerald M. Feierstein, a senior diplomat who was ambassador to Yemen from 2010 to 2013, called the death of Mr. Rubeish a “major setback” for the Qaeda franchise. He said that he had no details on the attack, but that it appeared to show that the United States could carry out strikes without a stable government in Yemen to offer support.
“At this particular moment, they might feel they’re operating with a certain level of impunity,” Mr. Feierstein said of the Qaeda branch, speaking in an interview after a congressional hearing on Yemen. “If we can deny them that assurance, that’s a good thing.”
American counterterrorism officials say that killing operatives of the Yemen affiliate has kept it off balance, making it harder to plot against the United States. But in the judgment of most experts, the Qaeda branch there is at least as strong as it was before American drone strikes began in Yemen in 2009, in part as a result of political chaos in the country.
But Gerald M. Feierstein, a senior diplomat who was ambassador to Yemen from 2010 to 2013, called the death of Mr. Rubeish a “major setback” for the Qaeda franchise. He said that he had no details on the attack, but that it appeared to show that the United States could carry out strikes without a stable government in Yemen to offer support.
“At this particular moment, they might feel they’re operating with a certain level of impunity,” Mr. Feierstein said of the Qaeda branch, speaking in an interview after a congressional hearing on Yemen. “If we can deny them that assurance, that’s a good thing.”
The strike was the first in Yemen in about six weeks, according to independent groups that track counterterrorism strikes. American drones have continued to carry out surveillance flights over Yemen, but strikes slowed last month after the American Embassy was closed and 125 American Special Operations troops were pulled out of an air base in the south.
In recent months, Iran-backed Shiite militia forces known as the Houthis have seized the Yemeni capital, Sana, and faced off against Yemen’s government and airstrikes carried out by a Saudi-led coalition of Sunni countries. Earlier this month, Qaeda fighters took advantage of disarray among security forces and seized Al Mukalla, looting a bank and freeing hundreds of prisoners.
A senior Obama administration official declined to comment on the strike that killed Mr. Rubeish. But the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, made clear that the recent withdrawal did not end American drone operations, which are carried out from bases in Saudi Arabia and Djibouti, in eastern Africa.
“We continue to actively monitor terrorist threats emanating from Yemen, and we have capabilities postured in the area to address them,” the official said.
For several years, American counterterrorism officials have seen Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula as the terrorist group posing the greatest threat to the United States. It was responsible for two failed plots to blow up United States-bound airliners: one in 2009 that used explosives hidden in a bomber’s underwear, and a foiled attack in 2010 using bombs hidden in printer cartridges addressed to Chicago and sent aboard cargo planes.
The life and death of Mr. Rubeish reflected several stages in the struggle of the United States to deal with terrorist suspects since 2001, including his imprisonment at Guantánamo and his participation in a Saudi rehabilitation program for militants, which evidently failed.
According to a biography prepared by officials at Guantánamo, Mr. Rubeish was born into a wealthy Saudi family and earned a certificate in Islamic law. He wanted to join the fight against Russian forces in Chechnya, but after traveling to Pakistan for training he was directed to a Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan in May 2001, when he was about 22.
.
In recent months, Iran-backed Shiite militia forces known as the Houthis have seized the Yemeni capital, Sana, and faced off against Yemen’s government and airstrikes carried out by a Saudi-led coalition of Sunni countries. Earlier this month, Qaeda fighters took advantage of disarray among security forces and seized Al Mukalla, looting a bank and freeing hundreds of prisoners.
A senior Obama administration official declined to comment on the strike that killed Mr. Rubeish. But the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, made clear that the recent withdrawal did not end American drone operations, which are carried out from bases in Saudi Arabia and Djibouti, in eastern Africa.
“We continue to actively monitor terrorist threats emanating from Yemen, and we have capabilities postured in the area to address them,” the official said.
For several years, American counterterrorism officials have seen Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula as the terrorist group posing the greatest threat to the United States. It was responsible for two failed plots to blow up United States-bound airliners: one in 2009 that used explosives hidden in a bomber’s underwear, and a foiled attack in 2010 using bombs hidden in printer cartridges addressed to Chicago and sent aboard cargo planes.
The life and death of Mr. Rubeish reflected several stages in the struggle of the United States to deal with terrorist suspects since 2001, including his imprisonment at Guantánamo and his participation in a Saudi rehabilitation program for militants, which evidently failed.
According to a biography prepared by officials at Guantánamo, Mr. Rubeish was born into a wealthy Saudi family and earned a certificate in Islamic law. He wanted to join the fight against Russian forces in Chechnya, but after traveling to Pakistan for training he was directed to a Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan in May 2001, when he was about 22.
.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, he fought at Tora Bora in Afghanistan and was captured by Pakistani forces and turned over to the United States, arriving at Guantánamo in January 2002. A 2005 assessment judged that he was a member of Al Qaeda who posed a “medium” risk and said that he had “some type of leadership role among detainees and strongly influences them.” He contributed an “Ode to the Sea” to a collection of poems by Guantánamo prisoners published in 2007.
Earlier in 2005, Mr. Rubeish was among several Guantánamo detainees to challenge their detention with a habeas corpus petition in federal court in Washington. The petition was denied, but in December 2006, the George W. Bush administration sent Mr. Rubeish home to Saudi Arabia on the condition that he enter the rehabilitation program.
That program generally has a good reputation among counterterrorism experts, but among its most prominent failures were militants who helped form Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in 2009. The former deputy leader of that Qaeda branch, Saeed al-Shihri, followed the same path from Guantánamo to the Saudi rehab program and then to Yemen, where he died in a drone strike in 2013.
Mr. Rubeish, whose family name is sometimes spelled Arbaysh in English, soon emerged as a regular spokesman for the Qaeda branch. In 2009, when the group sent a suicide bomber to Saudi Arabia in an unsuccessful attempt to kill that country’s counterterrorism chief, Mr. Rubeish offered the justification in an audio message.
After Mr. Awlaki was killed in a drone strike in September 2011, Mr. Rubeish who took the central role in the group’s elaborate video remembrance. Last year, he denounced the American airstrikes against the so-called Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, saying the decision not to send ground troops “is due to the bitterness of what they tasted in their past experience in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
In January, after gunmen attacked the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, Mr. Rubeish praised the killings and called for more attacks in France and elsewhere in the West. The State Department had labeled him a “specially designated global terrorist,” and the government was offering a reward of up to $5 million for information about his location
Earlier in 2005, Mr. Rubeish was among several Guantánamo detainees to challenge their detention with a habeas corpus petition in federal court in Washington. The petition was denied, but in December 2006, the George W. Bush administration sent Mr. Rubeish home to Saudi Arabia on the condition that he enter the rehabilitation program.
That program generally has a good reputation among counterterrorism experts, but among its most prominent failures were militants who helped form Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in 2009. The former deputy leader of that Qaeda branch, Saeed al-Shihri, followed the same path from Guantánamo to the Saudi rehab program and then to Yemen, where he died in a drone strike in 2013.
Mr. Rubeish, whose family name is sometimes spelled Arbaysh in English, soon emerged as a regular spokesman for the Qaeda branch. In 2009, when the group sent a suicide bomber to Saudi Arabia in an unsuccessful attempt to kill that country’s counterterrorism chief, Mr. Rubeish offered the justification in an audio message.
After Mr. Awlaki was killed in a drone strike in September 2011, Mr. Rubeish who took the central role in the group’s elaborate video remembrance. Last year, he denounced the American airstrikes against the so-called Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, saying the decision not to send ground troops “is due to the bitterness of what they tasted in their past experience in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
In January, after gunmen attacked the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, Mr. Rubeish praised the killings and called for more attacks in France and elsewhere in the West. The State Department had labeled him a “specially designated global terrorist,” and the government was offering a reward of up to $5 million for information about his location
[h=1]ISIS second-in-command with a $7million bounty on his head is killed in bombing raid as terror group in retreat across Iraq and Syria[/h]
Al-Qaduli, who was the ISIS finance minister had a $7million bounty on his head was killed earlier this month.
US Defence Secretary Ash Carter confirmed Al-Qaduil's death but refused to go into detail about the mission. He said the death of Al-Qaduli would make it more difficult for ISIS to operate and for the terror organisation to pay their fighters.
US Defense Secretary Ash Carter, right, will confirm the death of Abdul Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, left
+11
General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff gave details of the operations against ISIS
The terrorist joined Al Qaeda in 2004 but transferred his allegiance to ISIS following his release from prison in early 2012.
The US Department of Treasury branded al-Qaduli as a 'Specially Designated Global Terrorist' on May 14, 2014.
Carter said US forces are 'systematically eliminating ISIL's cabinet. We killed several key ISIL terrorists this week'.
He said: 'They will be replaced but we will continue to go after their leadership.'
Carter described al-Qaduli as a 'well known terrorist' who was their minister for finance.
He confirmed US forces killed Haji Iman, one of the many aliases used by al-Qaduli.
Carter refused to confirm whether the terrorist was killed in a drone strike or a manned aircraft. He said providing additional details would reduce the effectiveness of future operations.
He said they have taken out the terror organisation's finance chief, affecting their ability to pay their fighters.
He will provide details on the mission along with General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff..
+11
ISIS have been forced into a retreat across Iraq and Syria having lost some major sections of territory
+11
Iraqi troops have launched a major offensive to recapture the strategically important town of Mosul
+11
ISIS terrorists in the town have been under artillery bombardment from Iraqi troops supported by the Air Force
+11
US Defense Secretary Ash Carter told a press briefing in the Pentagon today that ISIS were on the retreat
The U.S. military has killed numerous ISIS leaders in recent months. Earlier this month the Pentagon said it killed Omar al-Shishani, described as the Islamic State's 'minister of war', in an airstrike in Syria.
In November, the Pentagon said an airstrike in Libya killed Abu Nabil, another top ISIS leader.
The Iraqi army said Thursday its troops and allied militia had launched what is expected to be a long and difficult offensive to retake the second city of Mosul, ISIS's main hub in Iraq.
The army and the Popular Mobilisation paramilitary force 'have begun the first phase of conquest operations' in the northern Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital, Iraq's joint operations command said in a statement.
It said four villages had been taken between the town of Qayyarah, which is still held by IS, and Makhmur, where US-backed Iraqi forces have been massing in recent weeks.
The army did not say how long this phase of the operation was expected to take and Iraqi forces still look far from being in a position to take the city itself.
+11
Iraqi forces have won back much of the territory seized by the terror group during their 2014 blitzkrieg
+11
Iraqi forces have spent the last 12 months training and rearming before beginning the major offensive
The joint operations command is coordinating the battle by Iraqi security forces to retake the large parts of the country seized by ISIS during a lightning offensive in 2014.
It includes representatives from the US-led coalition that has provided air support, training and military advisers for the Iraqi army in its fightback.
Iraqi forces have scored important recent gains against ISIS, including by last month retaking Anbar provincial capital Ramadi.
The latest announcement comes as pro-government forces in Syria closed in on ISIS in the ancient city of Palmyra, which the jihadists seized around the same time as Ramadi last year.
But Mosul - which along with Raqa in Syria is one of the jihadists' two main hubs - would be a major prize.
Experts have warned that any battle to retake the city will be difficult, given the significant number of jihadists and civilians in the city and the time ISIS has had to prepare defences.
+11
Syrian troops today recaptured a mansion belonging to a member of the Qatari royal family in Palmyra
+11
Members of the Syrian Amry celebrated their victory over ISIS in the city of Palmyra earlier today
Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland, the commander of the US-led operation against ISIS, has said that Iraqi generals do not think they will be able to recapture Mosul until the end of 2016 or early 2017 at the earliest.
As they have done in battles to retake cities like Ramadi and Tikrit, Iraqi forces are expected to work slowly and deliberately to cut off supply lines to Mosul before launching an assault on the city.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it distributed aid on Thursday to more than 12,000 displaced people in west Ramadi who fled fighting in the nearby city of Hit.
Thousands of troops were deployed in February to a base in Makhmur, some 45 miles southeast of Mosul, in preparation for the offensive.
The US-led coalition said it carried out three strikes in the Qayyarah area on Wednesday.
'Near Qayyarah, three strikes struck an ISIS communication facility and destroyed an ISIS-used bridge section and denied ISIS access to terrain,' it said in a statement.
It also launched eight strikes in the broader Mosul region.
Peshmerga fighters of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region have also been heavily involved in the campaign against ISIS in northern Iraq.
- Abdul Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli was killed in a bombing raid in Syria
- The ISIS terrorist had previously been a senior member of Al Qaeda in Iraq
- Al-Qaduli switched allegiances after he was released from jail in early 2012
- He was branded a 'Specially Designated Global Terrorist' in May 2014
Al-Qaduli, who was the ISIS finance minister had a $7million bounty on his head was killed earlier this month.
US Defence Secretary Ash Carter confirmed Al-Qaduil's death but refused to go into detail about the mission. He said the death of Al-Qaduli would make it more difficult for ISIS to operate and for the terror organisation to pay their fighters.
US Defense Secretary Ash Carter, right, will confirm the death of Abdul Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, left
- SHARE PICTURE
+11
General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff gave details of the operations against ISIS
The terrorist joined Al Qaeda in 2004 but transferred his allegiance to ISIS following his release from prison in early 2012.
The US Department of Treasury branded al-Qaduli as a 'Specially Designated Global Terrorist' on May 14, 2014.
Carter said US forces are 'systematically eliminating ISIL's cabinet. We killed several key ISIL terrorists this week'.
He said: 'They will be replaced but we will continue to go after their leadership.'
Carter described al-Qaduli as a 'well known terrorist' who was their minister for finance.
He confirmed US forces killed Haji Iman, one of the many aliases used by al-Qaduli.
Carter refused to confirm whether the terrorist was killed in a drone strike or a manned aircraft. He said providing additional details would reduce the effectiveness of future operations.
He said they have taken out the terror organisation's finance chief, affecting their ability to pay their fighters.
He will provide details on the mission along with General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff..
+11
ISIS have been forced into a retreat across Iraq and Syria having lost some major sections of territory
+11
Iraqi troops have launched a major offensive to recapture the strategically important town of Mosul
+11
ISIS terrorists in the town have been under artillery bombardment from Iraqi troops supported by the Air Force
+11
US Defense Secretary Ash Carter told a press briefing in the Pentagon today that ISIS were on the retreat
The U.S. military has killed numerous ISIS leaders in recent months. Earlier this month the Pentagon said it killed Omar al-Shishani, described as the Islamic State's 'minister of war', in an airstrike in Syria.
In November, the Pentagon said an airstrike in Libya killed Abu Nabil, another top ISIS leader.
The Iraqi army said Thursday its troops and allied militia had launched what is expected to be a long and difficult offensive to retake the second city of Mosul, ISIS's main hub in Iraq.
The army and the Popular Mobilisation paramilitary force 'have begun the first phase of conquest operations' in the northern Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital, Iraq's joint operations command said in a statement.
It said four villages had been taken between the town of Qayyarah, which is still held by IS, and Makhmur, where US-backed Iraqi forces have been massing in recent weeks.
The army did not say how long this phase of the operation was expected to take and Iraqi forces still look far from being in a position to take the city itself.
+11
Iraqi forces have won back much of the territory seized by the terror group during their 2014 blitzkrieg
+11
Iraqi forces have spent the last 12 months training and rearming before beginning the major offensive
The joint operations command is coordinating the battle by Iraqi security forces to retake the large parts of the country seized by ISIS during a lightning offensive in 2014.
It includes representatives from the US-led coalition that has provided air support, training and military advisers for the Iraqi army in its fightback.
Iraqi forces have scored important recent gains against ISIS, including by last month retaking Anbar provincial capital Ramadi.
The latest announcement comes as pro-government forces in Syria closed in on ISIS in the ancient city of Palmyra, which the jihadists seized around the same time as Ramadi last year.
But Mosul - which along with Raqa in Syria is one of the jihadists' two main hubs - would be a major prize.
Experts have warned that any battle to retake the city will be difficult, given the significant number of jihadists and civilians in the city and the time ISIS has had to prepare defences.
+11
Syrian troops today recaptured a mansion belonging to a member of the Qatari royal family in Palmyra
+11
Members of the Syrian Amry celebrated their victory over ISIS in the city of Palmyra earlier today
Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland, the commander of the US-led operation against ISIS, has said that Iraqi generals do not think they will be able to recapture Mosul until the end of 2016 or early 2017 at the earliest.
As they have done in battles to retake cities like Ramadi and Tikrit, Iraqi forces are expected to work slowly and deliberately to cut off supply lines to Mosul before launching an assault on the city.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it distributed aid on Thursday to more than 12,000 displaced people in west Ramadi who fled fighting in the nearby city of Hit.
Thousands of troops were deployed in February to a base in Makhmur, some 45 miles southeast of Mosul, in preparation for the offensive.
The US-led coalition said it carried out three strikes in the Qayyarah area on Wednesday.
'Near Qayyarah, three strikes struck an ISIS communication facility and destroyed an ISIS-used bridge section and denied ISIS access to terrain,' it said in a statement.
It also launched eight strikes in the broader Mosul region.
Peshmerga fighters of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region have also been heavily involved in the campaign against ISIS in northern Iraq.
Thousands gather for funeral of Hezbollah's Mustafa Badreddine
Lebanese group buries its military commander in Beirut as it investigates his death in large explosion in Syria
Hezbollah says it will soon reveal who it believes killed its military commander, Mustafa Badreddine, in a large explosion in Syria, the biggest blow to the militant Lebanese group in the past eight years.
Ahead of the findings of an investigation launched by Hezbollah members at the scene of the explosion near Damascus airport, leaders of the political bloc cum powerful militia were on Friday already pointing the finger of blame at Israel.
A statement by the group gave weight to the suggestion, by announcing that the internal investigation would seek to determine whether a “missile or artillery strike” had been responsible.
Badreddine, 55, was the most senior Hezbollah member to have been killed since his predecessor and brother-in-law Imad Mughniyeh was assassinated in Damascus in February 2008 in a joint Mossad and CIA operation.
Since then Badreddine had led all aspects of the organisation’s activities, including the war in Syria, in which Hezbollah became a major stakeholder in 2012 as a backer of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
Reaction in Israel to the strike was muted, while Israeli media that had been briefed by officials steered away from the suggestion of government involvement.
And while in the past Israel has not acknowledged operations of this kind until long after the fact, they have often been accompanied by mood music suggesting responsibility. Speculation has so far centred on who else might have done it.
Hezbollah has many enemies in Syria, where it has lost an estimated 900 members in fighting and where, along with Iran, it has taken the lead in directing numerous battles.
On the streets of Beirut, there was little room for doubt. Thousands of Hezbollah supporters gathered on Friday to pay homage to Badreddine, who was buried with full military honours and a marching band.
Residents of south Beirut showered mourners with flowers and rice and ululated as they sang eulogies for Badreddine, chanting death to America, Israel and the Saudi ruling family. Badreddine was buried in the same shrine as Mughniyah. Top Hezbollah officials attended the procession, as well as Badreddine’s brother.
“The people of the resistance are used to these shocks but we are proud of him,” said one Hezbollah supporter. “We will march on. It is incredible to have a leader willing to sacrifice in this way, though we knew little of him.”
“We are all in one field of battle and in the end we win either victory or martyrdom,” another said.
Israel has sent its air force to attack at least eight different sites inside Syria since the civil war began. Most have targeted what Israeli officials believe to have been convoys carrying anti-aircraft missiles, which they claimed were being moved toLebanon, where they could pose a threat against its air force.
“The investigation will work to determine the nature of the explosion and its causes, whether it was due to an air or missile or artillery strike and we will announce the results of the investigation soon.”
Born in 1961 in the southern Beirut suburb of Ghobeiry, Badreddine had been central to Hezbollah’s operations since the group’s inception in 1982. He was sentenced to death in Kuwait in the 1980s over a plot to blow up the American and French embassies there during the Iran-Iraq war, but later escaped after Saddam Hussein’s army invaded the oil-rich emirate and threw open its prisons.
Most of the organisation’s activities had targeted Israel, which occupied Lebanon from 1982 to 2000. However, Badreddine had also been accused of leading a cell that was allegedly responsible for the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, on the Beirut waterfront in February 2005.
He was indicted in 2011 by the special tribunal for Lebanon, an international court established in The Hague, in connection with the massive 2005 bombing, which led Assad to withdraw his forces from Lebanon in the face of a civic uprising.
Badreddine and four other alleged members of Hezbollah remain on trial in absentia at The Hague. Prosecutors have offered one of the few publicly available glimpses of the shadowy Hezbollah operative, describing him as the “apex” of the cell that allegedly killed Hariri, and a figure who was akin to an “untraceable ghost” who assumed multiple identities.
He was known to have studied at a Lebanese university and to have maintained an apartment in the Lebanese seaside area of Jounieh. He was also active in the south Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, where he was last seen early last year at a wake for Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike that also claimed an Iranian general.
While holding senior positions throughout his career, Badreddine was best known for his role in leading Hezbollah’s large contingent in Syria.
Despite Israeli protests, Russia recently proceeded with a long-delayed sale to Iran of the advanced S-300 weapons system, which can shoot down the most modern fighter jets. Israeli officials had said they would prioritise tracking the whereabouts of the systems, the position of which in southern Lebanon would pose a potent threat to their air force.
Announcing Badreddine’s death earlier on Friday, Hezbollah said: “He said months ago that he would not return from Syria except as a martyr or carrying the flag of victory. “He is the great jihadi leader Mustafa Badreddine, and he has returned today a martyr.
“The information gleaned from the initial investigation is that a major explosion targeted one of our centres near Damascus international airport, which led to the martyrdom of Sayyid Zul Fikar (a nom de guerre for Badreddine) and the injuries of others.
Lebanese group buries its military commander in Beirut as it investigates his death in large explosion in Syria
Hezbollah says it will soon reveal who it believes killed its military commander, Mustafa Badreddine, in a large explosion in Syria, the biggest blow to the militant Lebanese group in the past eight years.
Ahead of the findings of an investigation launched by Hezbollah members at the scene of the explosion near Damascus airport, leaders of the political bloc cum powerful militia were on Friday already pointing the finger of blame at Israel.
A statement by the group gave weight to the suggestion, by announcing that the internal investigation would seek to determine whether a “missile or artillery strike” had been responsible.
Badreddine, 55, was the most senior Hezbollah member to have been killed since his predecessor and brother-in-law Imad Mughniyeh was assassinated in Damascus in February 2008 in a joint Mossad and CIA operation.
Since then Badreddine had led all aspects of the organisation’s activities, including the war in Syria, in which Hezbollah became a major stakeholder in 2012 as a backer of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
Reaction in Israel to the strike was muted, while Israeli media that had been briefed by officials steered away from the suggestion of government involvement.
And while in the past Israel has not acknowledged operations of this kind until long after the fact, they have often been accompanied by mood music suggesting responsibility. Speculation has so far centred on who else might have done it.
Hezbollah has many enemies in Syria, where it has lost an estimated 900 members in fighting and where, along with Iran, it has taken the lead in directing numerous battles.
On the streets of Beirut, there was little room for doubt. Thousands of Hezbollah supporters gathered on Friday to pay homage to Badreddine, who was buried with full military honours and a marching band.
Residents of south Beirut showered mourners with flowers and rice and ululated as they sang eulogies for Badreddine, chanting death to America, Israel and the Saudi ruling family. Badreddine was buried in the same shrine as Mughniyah. Top Hezbollah officials attended the procession, as well as Badreddine’s brother.
“The people of the resistance are used to these shocks but we are proud of him,” said one Hezbollah supporter. “We will march on. It is incredible to have a leader willing to sacrifice in this way, though we knew little of him.”
“We are all in one field of battle and in the end we win either victory or martyrdom,” another said.
Israel has sent its air force to attack at least eight different sites inside Syria since the civil war began. Most have targeted what Israeli officials believe to have been convoys carrying anti-aircraft missiles, which they claimed were being moved toLebanon, where they could pose a threat against its air force.
“The investigation will work to determine the nature of the explosion and its causes, whether it was due to an air or missile or artillery strike and we will announce the results of the investigation soon.”
Born in 1961 in the southern Beirut suburb of Ghobeiry, Badreddine had been central to Hezbollah’s operations since the group’s inception in 1982. He was sentenced to death in Kuwait in the 1980s over a plot to blow up the American and French embassies there during the Iran-Iraq war, but later escaped after Saddam Hussein’s army invaded the oil-rich emirate and threw open its prisons.
Most of the organisation’s activities had targeted Israel, which occupied Lebanon from 1982 to 2000. However, Badreddine had also been accused of leading a cell that was allegedly responsible for the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, on the Beirut waterfront in February 2005.
He was indicted in 2011 by the special tribunal for Lebanon, an international court established in The Hague, in connection with the massive 2005 bombing, which led Assad to withdraw his forces from Lebanon in the face of a civic uprising.
Badreddine and four other alleged members of Hezbollah remain on trial in absentia at The Hague. Prosecutors have offered one of the few publicly available glimpses of the shadowy Hezbollah operative, describing him as the “apex” of the cell that allegedly killed Hariri, and a figure who was akin to an “untraceable ghost” who assumed multiple identities.
He was known to have studied at a Lebanese university and to have maintained an apartment in the Lebanese seaside area of Jounieh. He was also active in the south Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, where he was last seen early last year at a wake for Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike that also claimed an Iranian general.
While holding senior positions throughout his career, Badreddine was best known for his role in leading Hezbollah’s large contingent in Syria.
Despite Israeli protests, Russia recently proceeded with a long-delayed sale to Iran of the advanced S-300 weapons system, which can shoot down the most modern fighter jets. Israeli officials had said they would prioritise tracking the whereabouts of the systems, the position of which in southern Lebanon would pose a potent threat to their air force.
Announcing Badreddine’s death earlier on Friday, Hezbollah said: “He said months ago that he would not return from Syria except as a martyr or carrying the flag of victory. “He is the great jihadi leader Mustafa Badreddine, and he has returned today a martyr.
“The information gleaned from the initial investigation is that a major explosion targeted one of our centres near Damascus international airport, which led to the martyrdom of Sayyid Zul Fikar (a nom de guerre for Badreddine) and the injuries of others.
[h=2]Head of the Taliban in Afghanistan Mullah Akhtar Mansour is 'thought to have been killed in US drone strike' sanctioned by Obama this morning[/h][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]The United States conducted a drone strike on Saturday against the leader of Afghan Taliban, likely killing him on the Pakistan side of the remote border region with Afghanistan in a mission authorized by U.S. President Barack Obama, officials said. The death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour, should it be confirmed, could further fracture the Taliban - an outcome that experts cautioned might make the insurgents even less likely to participate in long-stalled peace efforts.
Head of the Taliban in Afghanistan Mullah Akhtar Mansour 'believed killed in US drone strike' that was sanctioned by Obama Saturday morning
PUBLISHED: 21:48, 21 May 2016 | UPDATED: 04:33, 22 May 2016
Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the head of the Taliban in Afghanistan - and a tong-time 'obstacle to peace' in the country - is 'likely dead' after a US drone strike on Saturday.
The U.S. military carried out an air strike targeting Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region earlier today, the Pentagon said.
It is still assessing the results of the airstrike to determine whether he was killed.
That confirmation could could take 'days', a senior official told CNN.
For now, however, it is believed that Mansour and another male combatant were killed in the strike, which was authorized by President Barack Obama.
There was no collateral damage in the drone strike, officials told CNN.
However, claims of Mansour's death were denied by a Taliban commander close to the man, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.
'We heard about these baseless reports but this (is) not (the) first time,' the commander said. 'Just wanted to share with you my own information that Mullah Mansour has not been killed.'
This isn't the first time Mansour has been attacked: In December, he was reported wounded and maybe killed in a shootout at the house of another Taliban leader near Quetta in Pakistan.
But this time the U.S. was taking no chances, using multiple drones to attack him.
The strike took place at about 3pm local time on the Pakistani side of a remote area of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, according to the official.
The drones targeted the men as they rode in a vehicle southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal.
+5
Location: Mansour was attacked southwest of Ahmad Wal, on the Pakistani side of the Afghan-Pakistani border. Another combatant was killed with him and there was no collateral damage, The Pentagon said
Mansour, who has been in charge of the Taliban in Afghanistan since the summer of 2015, was described as 'an obstacle to peace' in the country by Peter Cook, the Pentagon's Press Secretary, when he announced the man's death.
As the leader of the group - which now holds more Afghanistan territory than at any time since they were ousted from control by a U.S. intervention in 2001 - he forbade Taliban members from engaging in peace talks with the Afghanistan government.
He was also planning attacks against Afghanistan and U.S. forces, Cook claimed.
However, Michael Kugelman, a senior associate for South and Southeast Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center, told Reuters that even if Mansour is dead the Taliban won't go straight to the negotiating table.
'The Taliban won't simply meekly agree to talks and especially as this strike could worsen the fragmentation within the organization,' he said.
And Andrew Wilder, a senior analyst at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, told The Washington Post Mansour's death could galvanize the Taliban to prove it can still fight back.
'No one in the Taliban ranks is going to seriously be talking about pushing the peace talks further,' he said.
And it's not known whether Mansour's deputy, Sirajuddin Haqqani, will be accepted as the new leader, given that Mansour only made it to the top after some vicious infighting.
And with no clear successor, Mansour's death 'will provoke a crisis inside the Taliban', Bruce Riedel, an Afghanistan expert at the Brookings Institution think-tank, told Reuters.
That could lead to their guerrilla operations being compromised over the summer.
+5
Obstacle: Peter Cook, the Pentagon's Press Secretary, said Mansour was 'an obstacle to peace' in the country. Mansour's death could take days to confirm, an unnamed source said
Peter Cook, the Pentagon's Press Secretary said Saturday: 'Today, the Department of Defense conducted an airstrike that targeted Taliban leader Mullah Mansur in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.
'Mansour has been the leader of the Taliban and actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel, and Coalition partners.
'We are still assessing the results of the strike and will provide more information as it becomes available.'
He continued: 'Since the death of Mullah Omar and Mansour's assumption of leadership, the Taliban have conducted many attacks that have resulted in the death of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces as well as numerous U.S. and Coalition personnel.'
The announcement was met with approval by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the Senate's more hawkish Republicans, CNN reported.
'I'm glad to hear we decided to bring the leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, to justice,' Graham said. 'I appreciate President Obama for authorizing the attack. And job-well-done to the members of our military and intelligence communities who carried out the mission.'
However, he asked Obama not to remove ground troops from the country 'until conditions on the ground permit their withdrawal'.
+5
Policy: Gen. John W. Nicholson, Jr., Afghanistan's new U.S. commander (pictured) is now reviewing policy. Senator John McCain hopes the strike against Mansour signals an increased focus on the Taliban
The new U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General John W. Nicholson, Jr., is currently reviewing U.S. strategy, including possibly reducing the number of U.S. forces or implementing broader powers to target insurgents.
Under present policy, the U.S. will only target Taliban members in three circumstances: when U.S. or coalition forces are threatened, when the Taliban is believed to be providing direct help to Al-Qaeda, or when the Taliban poses a strategic threat to Afghan forces.
That's a policy that U.S. Senator John McCain, the Republican head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, hopes will change after the attack on Mansour.
'Our troops are in Afghanistan today for the same reason they deployed there in 2001 - to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for global terrorists,' McCain said.
Predecessor: Mullah Mohammad Omar (pictured) was the Afghanistan Taliban leader before Mansour, who was his deputy. Mansour took over in 2015, after it emerged Omar had died two years earlier
'The Taliban remains allied with these terrorists, including al-Qaeda and the Haqqani network, and it is the one force most able and willing to turn Afghanistan into a terrorist safe haven once again.'
The attack on Mansour was deemed justified because he was believed to be plotting to attack U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
Mansour was declared Taliban leader in Afghanistan in July 2015, when it emerged that the group's founder, Mullah Mohammed Omar, had been dead for two years.
That announcement was made by the Afghanistan government, who claimed that there was 'credible information' that he had died in a hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, in April 2013.
Mansour had been Omar's deputy since 2010.
However, his appointment as leader was met with resistance from many top Taliban commanders, who refused to pledge their loyalty, believing that he rigged the hastily organised selection process.
Prior to taking over the country's branch of the Taliban, he was the organization's minister of civil aviation and transportation and was considered 'a prominent member of the Taliban leadership', a now removed document on the U.N. Security Council Sanctions List said, according to CNN.
'He was repatriated to Afghanistan in September 2006 following detention in Pakistan,' it continued.
'He is involved in drug trafficking and was active in the provinces of Khost, Paktia and Paktika in Afghanistan as of May 2007. He was also the Taliban "Governor" of Kandahar as of May 2007.'
Between 2007 and 2010, he had been the chief of military affairs for a Taliban military council overseeing Afghanistan's Nimruz and Helmand provinces.
+5
Read more:
- Afghanistan Taliban believed to be dead following US drone strike
- They targeted Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in remote area
- Pentagon assessing results of airstrike to determine whether he was killed
- Authorities warned that it could take days for confirmation of his death
PUBLISHED: 21:48, 21 May 2016 | UPDATED: 04:33, 22 May 2016
Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the head of the Taliban in Afghanistan - and a tong-time 'obstacle to peace' in the country - is 'likely dead' after a US drone strike on Saturday.
The U.S. military carried out an air strike targeting Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region earlier today, the Pentagon said.
It is still assessing the results of the airstrike to determine whether he was killed.
That confirmation could could take 'days', a senior official told CNN.
For now, however, it is believed that Mansour and another male combatant were killed in the strike, which was authorized by President Barack Obama.
There was no collateral damage in the drone strike, officials told CNN.
However, claims of Mansour's death were denied by a Taliban commander close to the man, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.
'We heard about these baseless reports but this (is) not (the) first time,' the commander said. 'Just wanted to share with you my own information that Mullah Mansour has not been killed.'
This isn't the first time Mansour has been attacked: In December, he was reported wounded and maybe killed in a shootout at the house of another Taliban leader near Quetta in Pakistan.
But this time the U.S. was taking no chances, using multiple drones to attack him.
The strike took place at about 3pm local time on the Pakistani side of a remote area of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, according to the official.
The drones targeted the men as they rode in a vehicle southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal.
+5
Location: Mansour was attacked southwest of Ahmad Wal, on the Pakistani side of the Afghan-Pakistani border. Another combatant was killed with him and there was no collateral damage, The Pentagon said
Mansour, who has been in charge of the Taliban in Afghanistan since the summer of 2015, was described as 'an obstacle to peace' in the country by Peter Cook, the Pentagon's Press Secretary, when he announced the man's death.
As the leader of the group - which now holds more Afghanistan territory than at any time since they were ousted from control by a U.S. intervention in 2001 - he forbade Taliban members from engaging in peace talks with the Afghanistan government.
He was also planning attacks against Afghanistan and U.S. forces, Cook claimed.
However, Michael Kugelman, a senior associate for South and Southeast Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center, told Reuters that even if Mansour is dead the Taliban won't go straight to the negotiating table.
'The Taliban won't simply meekly agree to talks and especially as this strike could worsen the fragmentation within the organization,' he said.
And Andrew Wilder, a senior analyst at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, told The Washington Post Mansour's death could galvanize the Taliban to prove it can still fight back.
'No one in the Taliban ranks is going to seriously be talking about pushing the peace talks further,' he said.
And it's not known whether Mansour's deputy, Sirajuddin Haqqani, will be accepted as the new leader, given that Mansour only made it to the top after some vicious infighting.
And with no clear successor, Mansour's death 'will provoke a crisis inside the Taliban', Bruce Riedel, an Afghanistan expert at the Brookings Institution think-tank, told Reuters.
That could lead to their guerrilla operations being compromised over the summer.
+5
Obstacle: Peter Cook, the Pentagon's Press Secretary, said Mansour was 'an obstacle to peace' in the country. Mansour's death could take days to confirm, an unnamed source said
Peter Cook, the Pentagon's Press Secretary said Saturday: 'Today, the Department of Defense conducted an airstrike that targeted Taliban leader Mullah Mansur in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.
'Mansour has been the leader of the Taliban and actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel, and Coalition partners.
'We are still assessing the results of the strike and will provide more information as it becomes available.'
He continued: 'Since the death of Mullah Omar and Mansour's assumption of leadership, the Taliban have conducted many attacks that have resulted in the death of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces as well as numerous U.S. and Coalition personnel.'
The announcement was met with approval by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the Senate's more hawkish Republicans, CNN reported.
'I'm glad to hear we decided to bring the leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, to justice,' Graham said. 'I appreciate President Obama for authorizing the attack. And job-well-done to the members of our military and intelligence communities who carried out the mission.'
However, he asked Obama not to remove ground troops from the country 'until conditions on the ground permit their withdrawal'.
+5
Policy: Gen. John W. Nicholson, Jr., Afghanistan's new U.S. commander (pictured) is now reviewing policy. Senator John McCain hopes the strike against Mansour signals an increased focus on the Taliban
The new U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General John W. Nicholson, Jr., is currently reviewing U.S. strategy, including possibly reducing the number of U.S. forces or implementing broader powers to target insurgents.
Under present policy, the U.S. will only target Taliban members in three circumstances: when U.S. or coalition forces are threatened, when the Taliban is believed to be providing direct help to Al-Qaeda, or when the Taliban poses a strategic threat to Afghan forces.
That's a policy that U.S. Senator John McCain, the Republican head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, hopes will change after the attack on Mansour.
'Our troops are in Afghanistan today for the same reason they deployed there in 2001 - to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for global terrorists,' McCain said.
Predecessor: Mullah Mohammad Omar (pictured) was the Afghanistan Taliban leader before Mansour, who was his deputy. Mansour took over in 2015, after it emerged Omar had died two years earlier
'The Taliban remains allied with these terrorists, including al-Qaeda and the Haqqani network, and it is the one force most able and willing to turn Afghanistan into a terrorist safe haven once again.'
The attack on Mansour was deemed justified because he was believed to be plotting to attack U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
Mansour was declared Taliban leader in Afghanistan in July 2015, when it emerged that the group's founder, Mullah Mohammed Omar, had been dead for two years.
That announcement was made by the Afghanistan government, who claimed that there was 'credible information' that he had died in a hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, in April 2013.
Mansour had been Omar's deputy since 2010.
However, his appointment as leader was met with resistance from many top Taliban commanders, who refused to pledge their loyalty, believing that he rigged the hastily organised selection process.
Prior to taking over the country's branch of the Taliban, he was the organization's minister of civil aviation and transportation and was considered 'a prominent member of the Taliban leadership', a now removed document on the U.N. Security Council Sanctions List said, according to CNN.
'He was repatriated to Afghanistan in September 2006 following detention in Pakistan,' it continued.
'He is involved in drug trafficking and was active in the provinces of Khost, Paktia and Paktika in Afghanistan as of May 2007. He was also the Taliban "Governor" of Kandahar as of May 2007.'
Between 2007 and 2010, he had been the chief of military affairs for a Taliban military council overseeing Afghanistan's Nimruz and Helmand provinces.
- SHARE PICTURE
+5
Read more:
- Taliban leader Mullah Mansour likely killed in airstrike, U.S. officials say - CNNPolitics.com
- Taliban Leader Mansour Likely Killed in U.S. Airstrike, Officials Say - WSJ
