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Home Front: WoT
Pakistan: U.S. Missile Kills 32 Militants
2007-06-19
A missile fired from a U.S. drone aircraft killed at least 32 pro-Taliban militants in Pakistan's mountainous Datta Khel district June 19. Intelligence officials said some foreigners were among those killed. Abu Laith al-Libi, an al Qaeda field commander, was the target of the attack, sources said.
Oh, be still my heart! And now, more details:

A missile attack, probably launched by US forces in Afghanistan, has killed at least 32 people in a Pakistani tribal region near the border, Pakistani officials said. Tuesday's attack targeted a suspected Taliban training base in a village 60km west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, they said.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters some foreigners were among those killed in Mamy Rogha, raising the possibility that al Qaeda fighters might have also been present. North Waziristan is a known refuge for remnants of Osama bin Laden's network.
Remnants now spread over the landscape
"There was a cluster of three houses and a tent which were hit. There were about 45 people in that area," a senior government official told Reuters. A US drone aircraft carried out the attack at around 10:30 am (0530 GMT), according to intelligence officials and residents.

It was not known whether any leading Taliban or al Qaeda figures were targeted in the attack. The Pakistani army had not carried out any operations in the area, Major-General Waheed Arshad, the army spokesman, said. Initial reports suggested the explosion occurred while the fighters were making a bomb, he said.
Pakistani military spokesmen have offered such explanations in the past when US forces in Afghanistan have launched strikes on suspected targets in Pakistani territory to avoid admitting any violation of territorial sovereignty.
Posted by:Steve

#27  Let's hope the missile had Al Libby, Libby Libby on the label, label, label. Look for his elbow, elbow, elbow by the stable, stable stable ...

/really off-key singing.
Posted by: Super Hose   2007-06-19 22:26  

#26  Abu Laith is an outspoken leader of al Qaeda

Not anymore.

As in:

"That was a priceless Ming vase you dropped"

"Not anymore."

[/Inspector Clouseau]
Posted by: Zenster   2007-06-19 21:16  

#25  "I fainted when I heard that the Americans had killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi"
Posted by: Red Dawg   2007-06-19 21:05  

#24  
Abu Laith al Libi


Age: early 40’s
Citizenship: Libyan
Personal: An al-Qaeda field commander and spokesman, Abu Laith is an outspoken leader of al Qaeda, appearing in videos and on the internet. It was he in July 2002 who revealed that Bin Laden was still alive, the first comments about the al Qaeda leader’s health after the end of the Afghan conflict. Then in June 2004, he is shown leading an attack on what appears to be an Afghan military outpost and calling for jihad. He is known to operate on the Afghan side of the border, working with the remnants of the Taliban.

In some US intelligence circles, he is seen as al Qaeda’s No. 3.
~~~~
April 27, 2007

Abu Laith al-Libi, an al-Qaeda commander in Afghanistan, is featured in a 43:34 minute video interview [74 MB streaming] conducted and distributed to jihadist forums today, Friday, April 27, 2007, by as-Sahab, the multimedia wing of al-Qaeda.

[He was one of Al-Qaedas better speakers, IMO it's worth the watch]

The English-subtitled video depicts the interviewer and Abu Laith sitting across from each other in a room, each seated in a chair. The interview covers several topics including the condition of the jihad and Mujahideen in Afghanistan after five years of war with the American-led coalition forces, a brief eulogy for deceased al-Qaeda in Iraq Emir, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, importance of unity for the Mujahideen, and the state of jihad in Iraq vis-à-vis the Shi’ites. Though no issue is dwelled on longer than any other, *Palestine* is presented by the interviewer as the “central” issue. Also included are Abu Laith's especially emotional words for Zarqawi.

Palestine and al-Aqsa Mosque are declared as “intrinsic” issues for the jihad waged by al-Qaeda, as Abu Laith implicitly denies the accusation in the question and reiterates Zarqawi’s words that the Mujahideen’s eyes are on that front as they fight elsewhere. Regarding Afghanistan, Abu Laith observes the Mujahideen are securing victory and America nears defeat, converse to Iraq, where he believes that although the Mujahideen have had great success in the jihad, ***the Shi’ites who have acted as “shields” for American troops have allowed the U.S. to continue to persist in Iraq.

Video: Abu Laith al-Libi has had a special fondness for decapitation, uses used it quite often metaphorically.

Video: Abu Laith al-Libi, "I fainted when I heard that the Americans had killed Zarquari"
...but of course he went on to the Loftest place in Paradise".

;-)

I watched the whole interview. The Al-Qaeda Islamist cause lost a valuable asset for Abu Laith al-Libi could pitch the cause charismatically while explaining their global strategy in terms the young SplodyDope could understand.

1) now we wait for varification.
2)I checked this perp and pic against many sites, most agreed.
Posted by: Red Dawg   2007-06-19 21:02  

#23  It's 1/4 of the sign Ben CaseHistory!

Jeebers, Ship, it's like you probably even remember Dr. Kiljoy!
Posted by: Zenster   2007-06-19 20:11  

#22   Zen, how about: x ‡

Now, that's really strange! On preview, the vertical character displays as the infinity sign proper. No way ima gonna bet it posts properly, though.

PS: My initial response was "insufficient quantity", although I really do appreciate the sediments.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-06-19 20:09  

#21  Glen, thanks for the scoop!!! Pulitzer prize is coming my way...
Posted by: NYT Reporter   2007-06-19 19:46  

#20  It's 1/4 of the sign Ben CaseHistory!
Posted by: Shipman   2007-06-19 19:26  

#19  Zen, how about: x ∞
Posted by: twobyfour   2007-06-19 19:07  

#18  You definitely don't want to tick off Cheney.
Posted by: JohnQC   2007-06-19 18:46  

#17  I'm sure y'all know that was no Al Quaeda or Taliban military training base we hit. It was an elementary school. And they were having a wedding at it at the time. The gifts to the bride were baby bunnies.
Wait for the NYT to report it.
Posted by: Glenmore   2007-06-19 18:16  

#16  "a drone aircraft too! ooh, and doesn't that mean no raisins?"

He gets 72 blow-up dolls.

Al
Posted by: Frozen Al   2007-06-19 18:15  

#15  raising the possibility that al Qaeda fighters might have also been present.

You have got to be kidding me. Foreigners? In the Wazoo in Pakistan? And, fighters to boot? Come on.
Posted by: anymouse   2007-06-19 18:04  

#14  Faster please.
Posted by: DarthVader   2007-06-19 17:18  

#13  Was Al-libi one of the assholes that escaped from the military prison in Afghanistan?
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2007-06-19 17:18  

#12  Zenster, I agree that as long as the tribal belt shelters al-qaeda and pro-Taliban aggressors, it should be a fair target.

No harm, no foul, pal.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-06-19 16:58  

#11  The headline led me to believe we'd hit the Pakistani parliament.
Posted by: Rob Crawford   2007-06-19 16:52  

#10  Zenster, I agree that as long as the tribal belt shelters al-qaeda and pro-Taliban aggressors, it should be a fair target. I was just commenting on Liberalhawk's comment.

Sinse, you're thinking of Abu Faraj al-Libi, who has been in custody since 2005.
Posted by: Gromogum Elmereter5708   2007-06-19 16:46  

#9  isn't al libi the one with the skin pigment disease?
Posted by: sinse   2007-06-19 16:38  

#8  Abu Laith al-Libi is indeed a target of high enough value to justify a strike inside Pakistani borders.

Duuude, the mere existence of Pakistan is enough "to justify a strike inside Pakistani borders". Any questions?
Posted by: Zenster   2007-06-19 16:29  

#7  Abu Laith al-Libi is indeed a target of high enough value to justify a strike inside Pakistani borders. Reported intelligence suggests he holds a very high rank amongst the new al-qaeda leadership, probably as an operations chief looking to strike western targets. He was named al-qaeda's chief of operations for Afhanistan a month or so ago. He has also been seen in more than a few al-qaeda propanganda videos. Not a big name as we've known in the past (most of the well known al-qaeda leadership is either dead or in custody) but I would argue his death would be important enough to send a few missiles into the tribal belt.
Posted by: Gromogum Elmereter5708   2007-06-19 16:16  

#6  Bloody Hell! That was supposed to be "rinse and repeat times infinity"!
Posted by: Zenster   2007-06-19 16:15  

#5  rinse and repeat x ‡
Posted by: Zenster   2007-06-19 16:14  

#4  "at least 32"... and from a drone aircraft too! Oh the ignominy of it - ooh, and doesn't that mean no raisins?
Posted by: Tony (UK)   2007-06-19 16:02  

#3  As I remember, he was the guy that supposedly tried to pull off that lame attack on Cheney at Bagram a couple of months ago.
Sounds like Dick remembered...
Posted by: tu3031   2007-06-19 15:51  

#2  Attention, Hezbollah dumbies, this is how you use missles. 32 for 1. Oh, I'm sorry, you're not shooting missles, you're shooting rockets. Never mind, call a rocket surgeon.
Posted by: wxjames   2007-06-19 15:49  

#1  ok, I will be the one to say it. We dont (AFAIK) routinely fire missiles into Pakiland. for all the usual political reasons. If we did, its probably a high value target we were trying to hit.

and ive never heard of this Al-libi before, and doubt he was the high enough value to justify the strike.

Im too superstitious a Galitizianer to say any more than that.
Posted by: Liberalhawk   2007-06-19 15:44  

00:00