Ilyas Kashmiri, al-Qaida's top leader and a mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack, was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan's South Waziristan on Friday. The death of Kashmiri, who has emerged as a major terror threat to India, was confirmed by his terror group, Harkat-ul-Jihad-ul-Islami.
Kashmiri was alleged to have masterminded the May 22 attack on the Mehran naval base in Karachi. His death, coming after Osama bin Laden's, is a huge setback to al-Qaida and its related terror entities in Pakistan, and a source of respite for India.
David Coleman Headley, LeT operative currently on trial in Chicago, has confirmed that the plotting of Mumbai attacks was largely done with the operational skills of Kashmiri. However, the terrorist had started tormenting India from the 1990s. His iconic moment against India came in February 2000, when he led a group of 25 fighters in Kashmir. He not only killed an Indian soldier, but even carried his head back to Pakistan as a trophy, which earned him kudos from General Pervez Musharraf.
His growing value for Pakistan as a strategic asset against India combined with the standing he enjoyed among jihadi circles in Pakistan was the reason why Pakistani authorities let him off after arresting him for plotting an assassination attempt on General Musharraf.
The drone targeted a compound in Ghwakhwa area of South Waziristan, about 20km from Wana, killing almost nine al-Qaida fighters and injuring three. Kashmiri's death was not confirmed officially by either US or Pakistan, but in an unusual step, HuJI put out a statement confirming his killing.
In India, U K Bansal, special secretary (internal security) in the home ministry, said, "We are trying to confirm his death." In February 2010, India gave a dossier to Pakistan on Kashmiri's involvement in the Mumbai attack.
The HuJI statement confirming Kashmiri's death was sent to journalists in Peshawar. It said, "God willing, America, which is the 'pharaoh' of this, will soon see a revenge attack." Kashmiri was one of the top targets of both US and Pakistan, and in a recent reported "deal", both countries had reportedly agreed to joint operations against some top al-Qaida fighters. The precise intelligence which would have led to the attack, is believed to have come from the Pakistanis smarting after the bin Laden operation and Mehran attack.
With a missing eye and finger and his trademark RayBan aviator sunglasses, Ilyas Kashmiri was regarded as one of the most experienced terror leaders in Pakistan. Kashmiri evolved from a fighter against the Soviets in Afghanistan and against India in the 1990s to become one of al-Qaida's more feared military strategists. After Osama bin Laden's death, Kashmiri was among the top contenders for the post of emir. HuJI was designated a terrorist entity by the US in 2010, and Kashmiri was added to the list of global terrorists for his role in leading HuJI as well as for his links to al-Qaida.
Kashmiri created the deadly Brigade 313 out of HuJI in 2007, in the wake of Musharraf's Lal Masjid operation in July. This operation also helped in the creation of the now dreaded Pakistan Taliban. As head of Brigade 313, Kashmiri is believed to have built an operational network with terror operatives from Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, as well as jihadi-minded officials from Pakistan's military-intelligence establishment.
Kashmiri's success against India also ensured that he stayed close to the Pakistani intelligence establishment, which also nurtured Hafiz Saeed of LeT and Maulana Masood Azhar of JEM.
There are reports that Kashmiri may have also plotted an assassination of General Kayani, which was cancelled by the al-Qaida leadership, but this was never confirmed. What was confirmed, however, was a successful strike against a former director of Pakistan's notorious Special Services Group (SSG), Major General Faisal Alvi, in Rawalpindi in late 2008. Alvi was killed a couple of months after he sent a letter to General Kayani threatening to expose two Pakistani generals' involvement with the Taliban.
Bill Roggio, of Long War Journal, who has consistently tracked al-Qaida in Pakistan wrote, "Kashmiri's sights were not limited to Pakistan. He is thought to have played a major role in the multi-pronged suicide attack against government and security installations in the eastern Afghan province of Khost in May 2009.
"Al-Qaida recognized Kashmiri's success, and he was picked to lead the Lashkar al Zil, al-Qaida's paramilitary Shadow Army, which operates along the Afghan-Pakistani border. Kashmiri took control of al-Qaida's military forces after its prior leader, Abdullah Sa'ad al Libi, was killed in a US Predator airstrike in late 2008."
Kashmiri was alleged to have masterminded the May 22 attack on the Mehran naval base in Karachi. His death, coming after Osama bin Laden's, is a huge setback to al-Qaida and its related terror entities in Pakistan, and a source of respite for India.
David Coleman Headley, LeT operative currently on trial in Chicago, has confirmed that the plotting of Mumbai attacks was largely done with the operational skills of Kashmiri. However, the terrorist had started tormenting India from the 1990s. His iconic moment against India came in February 2000, when he led a group of 25 fighters in Kashmir. He not only killed an Indian soldier, but even carried his head back to Pakistan as a trophy, which earned him kudos from General Pervez Musharraf.
His growing value for Pakistan as a strategic asset against India combined with the standing he enjoyed among jihadi circles in Pakistan was the reason why Pakistani authorities let him off after arresting him for plotting an assassination attempt on General Musharraf.
The drone targeted a compound in Ghwakhwa area of South Waziristan, about 20km from Wana, killing almost nine al-Qaida fighters and injuring three. Kashmiri's death was not confirmed officially by either US or Pakistan, but in an unusual step, HuJI put out a statement confirming his killing.
In India, U K Bansal, special secretary (internal security) in the home ministry, said, "We are trying to confirm his death." In February 2010, India gave a dossier to Pakistan on Kashmiri's involvement in the Mumbai attack.
The HuJI statement confirming Kashmiri's death was sent to journalists in Peshawar. It said, "God willing, America, which is the 'pharaoh' of this, will soon see a revenge attack." Kashmiri was one of the top targets of both US and Pakistan, and in a recent reported "deal", both countries had reportedly agreed to joint operations against some top al-Qaida fighters. The precise intelligence which would have led to the attack, is believed to have come from the Pakistanis smarting after the bin Laden operation and Mehran attack.
With a missing eye and finger and his trademark RayBan aviator sunglasses, Ilyas Kashmiri was regarded as one of the most experienced terror leaders in Pakistan. Kashmiri evolved from a fighter against the Soviets in Afghanistan and against India in the 1990s to become one of al-Qaida's more feared military strategists. After Osama bin Laden's death, Kashmiri was among the top contenders for the post of emir. HuJI was designated a terrorist entity by the US in 2010, and Kashmiri was added to the list of global terrorists for his role in leading HuJI as well as for his links to al-Qaida.
Kashmiri created the deadly Brigade 313 out of HuJI in 2007, in the wake of Musharraf's Lal Masjid operation in July. This operation also helped in the creation of the now dreaded Pakistan Taliban. As head of Brigade 313, Kashmiri is believed to have built an operational network with terror operatives from Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, as well as jihadi-minded officials from Pakistan's military-intelligence establishment.
Kashmiri's success against India also ensured that he stayed close to the Pakistani intelligence establishment, which also nurtured Hafiz Saeed of LeT and Maulana Masood Azhar of JEM.
There are reports that Kashmiri may have also plotted an assassination of General Kayani, which was cancelled by the al-Qaida leadership, but this was never confirmed. What was confirmed, however, was a successful strike against a former director of Pakistan's notorious Special Services Group (SSG), Major General Faisal Alvi, in Rawalpindi in late 2008. Alvi was killed a couple of months after he sent a letter to General Kayani threatening to expose two Pakistani generals' involvement with the Taliban.
Bill Roggio, of Long War Journal, who has consistently tracked al-Qaida in Pakistan wrote, "Kashmiri's sights were not limited to Pakistan. He is thought to have played a major role in the multi-pronged suicide attack against government and security installations in the eastern Afghan province of Khost in May 2009.
"Al-Qaida recognized Kashmiri's success, and he was picked to lead the Lashkar al Zil, al-Qaida's paramilitary Shadow Army, which operates along the Afghan-Pakistani border. Kashmiri took control of al-Qaida's military forces after its prior leader, Abdullah Sa'ad al Libi, was killed in a US Predator airstrike in late 2008."
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