"Al Qaeda 'senior commander' Abdallah Umar al-Qurayshi killed in NATO strike."

[Clio the Leo]

The wording in this article is a bit harsh for my taste but I think it's important that if we want to speak out in opposition to the war that educate ourselves first.

Al Qaeda 'senior commander' Abdallah Umar al-Qurayshi killed in NATO strike, officials confirm
BY JAMES GORDON MEEK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU

Wednesday, September 29th 2010, 1:44 PM

WASHINGTON - An Al Qaeda "senior commander" in Afghanistan and one of his top henchmen were killed by a NATO airstrike last weekend, officials confirmed Wednesday.

Taking Abdallah Umar al-Qurayshi off the battlefield in Afghanistan is one of the biggest - and rarest - counterterror successes there for the U.S. since 2002.

Most senior Al Qaeda commanders killed or captured have been nailed on the other side of the border in Pakistan's tribal region. CIA drones are increasingly pounding terror targets there.

"The death of Al-Qurayshi is a significant victory for the people of Afghanistan," Army Col. Rafael Torres, an International Security Assistance Force spokesman, said in a statement.

Torres called the eliminated operatives "a major threat to Afghanistan," and killing them "will significantly degrade Al Qaeda activities throughout the region."

Al-Qurayshi, believed to be from Saudi Arabia, was "an Al Qaeda senior commander who coordinated the attacks of a group of Arab fighters in Kunar and Nuristan provinces," ISAF said in a statement.

He worked closely with Al Qaeda facilitators "throughout the Middle East," ISAF added.

Obama administration officials have said fewer than 100 Al Qaeda operatives are in Afghanistan, prompting a political debate over the purpose of the war.

But critics overlook the deadly expertise individual Al Qaeda operatives bring to the fight.

Al-Qurayshi facilitated smuggling Arab foreign fighters into the Korengal Valley, where he was killed Saturday by a fighter jet, said a military official in Kabul.

"Al Qaeda explosives expert" Abu Atta al-Kuwaiti also was zapped in Saturday's airstrike, while he and other Arab fighters were huddling with local insurgent leaders in an isolated Korengali compound, ISAF said.

<snip>

"They have to spend a lot of time worrying about seeing the sun rise the next day," a U.S. counterterror official briefed on the offensive recently told The News.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/09/29/2010-09-29_al_qaeda_senior_commander_abdallah_umar_alqurayshi_killed_in_nato_strike_officia.html

[hobbit709]

1. Is this the new version of the #2 guy?

[arcane1]

2. Interesting, I thought al Qaeda was a terrorist group

but this article is all about the battlefield and insurgents. I guess the two are still considered synonymous? :shrug:

[grantcart]

4. Al Jazeera is reporting that the Taliban is increasingly made up of foreign fighters

brought in by Al Queda.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/09/201091183514798599.html

[grantcart]

3. If you are interested in facts about the Taliban then you will be interested

in this Al Jazeera report that indicates that the Taliban fighting force is increasingly made up of foreign fighters, now up to 30% of the Taliban fighters are non Afghans;

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/09/201091183514798599.html