Task Force 145, the group tasked with hunting al Qaeda in Iraq, has been busy in Baghdad
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al Qaeda in Iraq’s Mujahideen Shura. |
The Iraqi Interior Ministry has announced the death of Abu Jaafar al-Liby, a senior al Qaeda commander during a raid in Baghdad. Four other terrorists were killed and two captured during the operation. Al-Liby’s stature within al Qaeda in Iraq will be immediately called in question as the Interior Ministry has stated he is the second in command of the organization. The Associated Press describes al-Liby as follows:
Al-Liby had been in charge of the Baghdad sector of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Khalaf said. He said two letters were found on his body — one for bin Laden and the other for [Abu Ayyab] al-Masri, who took over Al Qaeda in Iraq from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi after he was killed in a U.S. airstrike north of Baghdad on June 7. Both letters pledged loyalty and promised more attacks.
Al-Liby, in addition to being the commander of al Qaeda in Iraq’s Baghdad operations, sat on the Mujahideen Shura [or council], the umbrella organization of extremist jihadi groups designed to legitimize al Qaeda’s actions in Iraq. Baghdad is al Qaeda in Iraq’s most critical area of operations, the the possession of letters swearing alligence to bin Laden and al-Masri indicates he is a major player in the organization.
As we stated during the controversy over the capture of Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, another member of the Mujahideen Shura, “[The identification of al Qaeda’s senior commanders] is complicated by the fact that Al-Qaeda does not publish their ‘organizational leadership charts’ for obvious security reasons, and the terrorist group does not operate on strict, classical Western leadership models. Al-Qaeda operatives often wear many hats and fill leadership and operational positions as needed.”
The unnamed, captured al Qaeda commander is described as “a senior Al Qaeda terrorist and personal associate of the group’s new leader, Abu Ayyab al-Masri.” Task Force 145 has been busy, as “During the past two weeks, more than 150 focused operations resulted in 66 terrorists killed and 830 terror suspects detained.”
9 Comments
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Interesting.
It just struck me. TF 145 in Iraq is the same name as TF 145 for the UK’s ballistic missile submarine force. At least in the early 80’s. Hmmm
Would be nice if this guy had some papers on him (other than the ones pledging loyalty to UBL) that mention how to contact al-Qaeda bigs in Pak/Afg.
Battle of Baghdad 26
News Number 2 al Qaeda man in Iraq killed. “Interior Ministry director of operations Brigadier Abdul- Karim Khalaf said Iraqi forces had killed Liby along with four militants and captured two others alive, in an operation carried out in the…
Bill:
I’d be interested in your perspective on the story of the rules of engagement forbidding a Predator strike on a formation of 190 confirmed Taliban in a cemetary.
The Mideast, 152 (September 14, 2006)
Number 2 al Qaeda man in Iraq killed. “Interior Ministry director of operations Brigadier Abdul- Karim Khalaf said Iraqi forces had killed Liby along with four militants and captured two others alive, in an operation carried out in the…
Bill,
Very impressive website, I have bookmarked you and will be returning.
Senior al-Qaeda Leader Killed, Another Captured
Courtesy of The Fourth Rail:
Task Force 145, the group tasked with hunting al-Qaeda in Iraq, has been busy in Baghdad
The Iraqi Interior Ministry has announced the death of Abu Jaafar al-Liby, a senior al-Qaeda commander during a raid in Baghdad. Fo…