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— U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan killed two leaders of al-Qaeda's Indian branch earlier this year, a spokesman for the militants said Sunday, a major blow to the affiliate only months after its creation.
In an audio message, spokesman Usama Mahmood identified the dead as deputy chief Ahmed Farooq and Qari Imran, in charge of the group's Afghan affairs. Mahmood said a Jan. 5 drone strike in North Waziristan killed Imran, while a later drone strike killed Farooq. His claim corresponds with dates that previously reported suspected U.S. drone attacks were carried out in Pakistan's tribal region near the Afghan border.
Mahmood said that Farooq's real name was Raja Suleman and that he graduated from Islamabad's International Islamic University. Mahmoud said Imran's real name was Hidayatullah and that he was from Pakistan's central city of Multan in Punjab province.
Mahmood also lashed out against Pakistan army over its operation in North Waziristan.
"This operation is being carried out under direct supervision of American forces, its leadership and with their direct help through drones and jets," Mahmood said. "Pakistan's army is in fact just providing intelligence against the targets America wants to hit."
Mahmoud said U.S. drone strikes had killed some 50 members of his group. Pakistani officials had no immediate comment on the claims.
The CIA's drone strike program has killed al-Qaeda leaders, Pakistani Talibanfighters and other militants hiding in its tribal regions even as it has evoked anger across Pakistan over allegations of widespread civilian casualties. Since 2004, the U.S. has carried out some 400 suspected drone strikes in the country, according to the New America Foundation's International Security Program, which tracks the American campaign.
Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri announced creation of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent in September. The terror group increasingly finds itself overshadowed internationally by the Islamic State group, which holds a third of Iraq and Syria in its self-declared caliphate.
Prominent terrorist suspects killed in drone strikes
2009: Sa'ad bin Laden, one of Osama bin Laden's sons who served as a senior al-Qaeda leader. Killed in Pakistan.
August 2009: Baitullah Mehsud, top Taliban leader. Killed in Pakistan.
December 2009: Abdullah Said al Libi, top commander of the Lashkar al Zil, al-Qaeda's shadow army. Killed in Pakistan.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/03/19/drones-pakistan-iraq/25033955/
September 2010: Sheik Fateh al Masri, a leader of al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Killed in Pakistan's tribal region.
September 2011: American-born militant Anwar al-Awlaki, a prominent al-Qaeda leader whose speeches helped recruit young men. He was involved in planning attacks. Killed in Yemen.
September 2014: Ahmed Abde Godane, leader of al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate in Africa. Killed in Somalia. His group was behind the attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, that killed 67 people in 2013.
This undated and unlocated picture provided by the website 'Rewards for Justice' shows top Shebab leader, Somali Ahmed Abdi Godane also known as Ahmed Abdi Aw-Mohamed. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
March 2015: Adan Garar, suspected of helping to plan and carry out the Westgate Mall attack. Killed in Somalia.
Sources: The Long War Journal and USA TODAY research
Prominent terrorist suspects killed in drone strikes
Drones: The face of the war on terror
Jim Michaels, USA TODAY5:34 a.m. EDT March 20, 2015
The Department of Defense confirmed a drone strike killed Adan Garar, an al-Shabab member linked to the Westgate Mall massacre in Nairobi, Kenya that killed 67 people in 2013. VPC
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A drone strike that killed an alleged planner of the 2013 Kenyan mall massacre is the latest victory for a U.S. campaign that has taken out more than 500 suspected terrorist leaders since shortly after the 9/11 attacks.
Most have been drone strikes, the Obama administration's weapon of choice. It has authorized at least 450 attacks by unmanned aircraft, according to Micah Zenko, an analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Wednesday, the Pentagon announced that Adan Garar, a member of al-Shabaab's intelligence and security wing, was killed in southwestern Somalia on March 12 as he traveled in a vehicle.
"None of this would have been imaginable 14 years ago," Zenko said. "Now these are not a big deal."
The reason is simple. The unmanned aircraft provide the administration an accurate way of striking enemies while minimizing risks for U.S. personnel. They can control the weapons from American bases thousands of miles from the mountains of Pakistan or deserts of Yemen.
USA TODAY
Prominent terrorist suspects killed in drone strikes
That is particularly attractive for an administration that wants to avoid committing ground troops in the Middle East but continues to battle extremists in far corners of the globe.
Outside the USA, the strikes have been controversial and triggered resentment. Critics of American foreign policy accuse the United States of killing innocent civilians in the strikes. Pakistan's government, which says it's an ally in the fight against global terrorism, has often been vocal in lashing out at the use of drone strikes in remote parts of the country.
"Everyone except Israel and the United States hates them (drone strikes)," Zenko said. "In some areas where operations occur, drones have become the face of U.S. policy."
Despite charges of civilian deaths, the weapons on the unmanned aircraft have become increasingly more precise, and surveillance equipment has allowed operators to get a much clearer picture of what is happening on the ground.
Often the allegations of civilian casualties come from critics who want to whip up anti-American sentiment, said Andrew Hunter, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Because the strikes are often in remote regions, it is difficult for journalists and human rights groups to investigate the allegations, he said.
Analysts say that as the unmanned aircraft become more precise, civilian leaders will be quicker to reach for that option, lowering the threshold for deciding whether to target a suspected militant.
The capability to strike from afar has produced the "illusion of antiseptic warfare," said James Phillips, an analyst at the Heritage Foundation. "On the receiving end, it gets very messy."
A couple of decades ago, policymakers had few options for striking from a distance.
In 1998, when President Clinton wanted to retaliate against al-Qaeda terrorist bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, he launched a barrage of 75 cruise missiles into militant bases in Afghanistan and struck a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan.
The strikes in Afghanistan damaged some training camps but did not eliminate any top leaders. The pharmaceutical factory generated controversy because of disputes over whether it produced medicine or chemical weapons for al-Qaeda.
The strikes were widely viewed as ineffective, Phillips said.
The number of drones, which are more commonly used for surveillance, has expanded dramatically, driven by their success in providing critical intelligence to American ground forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They see extensive action over Iraq and Syria, where the United States is conducting an air campaign against its latest terrorist threat, the Islamic State.
"The ability to know what you're shooting at – that's where things have come huge distance," Hunter said.
Drones: The face of the war on terror
In an audio message, spokesman Usama Mahmood identified the dead as deputy chief Ahmed Farooq and Qari Imran, in charge of the group's Afghan affairs. Mahmood said a Jan. 5 drone strike in North Waziristan killed Imran, while a later drone strike killed Farooq. His claim corresponds with dates that previously reported suspected U.S. drone attacks were carried out in Pakistan's tribal region near the Afghan border.
Mahmood said that Farooq's real name was Raja Suleman and that he graduated from Islamabad's International Islamic University. Mahmoud said Imran's real name was Hidayatullah and that he was from Pakistan's central city of Multan in Punjab province.
Mahmood also lashed out against Pakistan army over its operation in North Waziristan.
"This operation is being carried out under direct supervision of American forces, its leadership and with their direct help through drones and jets," Mahmood said. "Pakistan's army is in fact just providing intelligence against the targets America wants to hit."
Mahmoud said U.S. drone strikes had killed some 50 members of his group. Pakistani officials had no immediate comment on the claims.
The CIA's drone strike program has killed al-Qaeda leaders, Pakistani Talibanfighters and other militants hiding in its tribal regions even as it has evoked anger across Pakistan over allegations of widespread civilian casualties. Since 2004, the U.S. has carried out some 400 suspected drone strikes in the country, according to the New America Foundation's International Security Program, which tracks the American campaign.
Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri announced creation of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent in September. The terror group increasingly finds itself overshadowed internationally by the Islamic State group, which holds a third of Iraq and Syria in its self-declared caliphate.
Prominent terrorist suspects killed in drone strikes
2009: Sa'ad bin Laden, one of Osama bin Laden's sons who served as a senior al-Qaeda leader. Killed in Pakistan.
August 2009: Baitullah Mehsud, top Taliban leader. Killed in Pakistan.
December 2009: Abdullah Said al Libi, top commander of the Lashkar al Zil, al-Qaeda's shadow army. Killed in Pakistan.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/03/19/drones-pakistan-iraq/25033955/
September 2010: Sheik Fateh al Masri, a leader of al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Killed in Pakistan's tribal region.
September 2011: American-born militant Anwar al-Awlaki, a prominent al-Qaeda leader whose speeches helped recruit young men. He was involved in planning attacks. Killed in Yemen.
September 2014: Ahmed Abde Godane, leader of al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate in Africa. Killed in Somalia. His group was behind the attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, that killed 67 people in 2013.
This undated and unlocated picture provided by the website 'Rewards for Justice' shows top Shebab leader, Somali Ahmed Abdi Godane also known as Ahmed Abdi Aw-Mohamed. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
March 2015: Adan Garar, suspected of helping to plan and carry out the Westgate Mall attack. Killed in Somalia.
Sources: The Long War Journal and USA TODAY research
Prominent terrorist suspects killed in drone strikes
Drones: The face of the war on terror
Jim Michaels, USA TODAY5:34 a.m. EDT March 20, 2015The Department of Defense confirmed a drone strike killed Adan Garar, an al-Shabab member linked to the Westgate Mall massacre in Nairobi, Kenya that killed 67 people in 2013. VPC
107TWEET 4LINKEDIN 53COMMENTEMAILMORE
A drone strike that killed an alleged planner of the 2013 Kenyan mall massacre is the latest victory for a U.S. campaign that has taken out more than 500 suspected terrorist leaders since shortly after the 9/11 attacks.
Most have been drone strikes, the Obama administration's weapon of choice. It has authorized at least 450 attacks by unmanned aircraft, according to Micah Zenko, an analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Wednesday, the Pentagon announced that Adan Garar, a member of al-Shabaab's intelligence and security wing, was killed in southwestern Somalia on March 12 as he traveled in a vehicle.
"None of this would have been imaginable 14 years ago," Zenko said. "Now these are not a big deal."
The reason is simple. The unmanned aircraft provide the administration an accurate way of striking enemies while minimizing risks for U.S. personnel. They can control the weapons from American bases thousands of miles from the mountains of Pakistan or deserts of Yemen.
USA TODAY
Prominent terrorist suspects killed in drone strikes
That is particularly attractive for an administration that wants to avoid committing ground troops in the Middle East but continues to battle extremists in far corners of the globe.
Outside the USA, the strikes have been controversial and triggered resentment. Critics of American foreign policy accuse the United States of killing innocent civilians in the strikes. Pakistan's government, which says it's an ally in the fight against global terrorism, has often been vocal in lashing out at the use of drone strikes in remote parts of the country.
"Everyone except Israel and the United States hates them (drone strikes)," Zenko said. "In some areas where operations occur, drones have become the face of U.S. policy."
Despite charges of civilian deaths, the weapons on the unmanned aircraft have become increasingly more precise, and surveillance equipment has allowed operators to get a much clearer picture of what is happening on the ground.
Often the allegations of civilian casualties come from critics who want to whip up anti-American sentiment, said Andrew Hunter, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Because the strikes are often in remote regions, it is difficult for journalists and human rights groups to investigate the allegations, he said.
Analysts say that as the unmanned aircraft become more precise, civilian leaders will be quicker to reach for that option, lowering the threshold for deciding whether to target a suspected militant.
The capability to strike from afar has produced the "illusion of antiseptic warfare," said James Phillips, an analyst at the Heritage Foundation. "On the receiving end, it gets very messy."
A couple of decades ago, policymakers had few options for striking from a distance.
In 1998, when President Clinton wanted to retaliate against al-Qaeda terrorist bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, he launched a barrage of 75 cruise missiles into militant bases in Afghanistan and struck a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan.
The strikes in Afghanistan damaged some training camps but did not eliminate any top leaders. The pharmaceutical factory generated controversy because of disputes over whether it produced medicine or chemical weapons for al-Qaeda.
The strikes were widely viewed as ineffective, Phillips said.
The number of drones, which are more commonly used for surveillance, has expanded dramatically, driven by their success in providing critical intelligence to American ground forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They see extensive action over Iraq and Syria, where the United States is conducting an air campaign against its latest terrorist threat, the Islamic State.
"The ability to know what you're shooting at – that's where things have come huge distance," Hunter said.
Drones: The face of the war on terror
