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Ali Ammar Ashur al-Raqiai, known as Abu Laith al-Libi, was a senior leader of the al-Qaeda movement in Afghanistan who appeared in several al-Qaeda videos. He was believed to have been active in the tribal regions of Waziristan. He also served as an al Qaeda spokesman. According to the Defense Intelligence Agency, he was an "expert in guerilla warfare."
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The Lashkar al-Zil or Shadow Army is a paramilitary organization linked to al-Qaeda and descended from the 055 Brigade. According to Syed Saleem Shahzad, it "comprises the Pakistani Taliban, 313 Brigade, the Afghan Taliban, Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan and former Iraqi Republican Guards". Lashkar al-Zil has reportedly been led by Khalid Habib al Shami, Abdullah Said al Libi, and Ilyas Kashmiri.
Saleh al-Somali, born Abdirizaq Abdi Saleh, was described as being an al-Qaeda leader and the group's head of external operations. He was killed by a missile fired from an unmanned predator drone on 8 December 2009. The missile strike was on a suspect compound in Janikhel village near Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, today a part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
References
- ↑ Matt Apuzzo (2010-02-12). "Evolving US strategy widens assault on terrorists". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2010-02-17.
Senior al-Qaida operatives Saleh al-Somali and Abdallah Sa'id were killed in airstrikes in December.
- ↑ David Ignatius (2010-02-17). "What the partisan squabbles miss on Obama's terror response". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on 2012-11-10.
These raids have ravaged the top tier of al-Qaeda's lieutenants. The victims include Saleh al-Somali, the chief of external operations, who was killed Dec. 8; Abdullah Said al-Libi, the chief of operations in Pakistan, who was killed Dec. 17; and Tahir Yuldashev, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, who was killed in August.
- 1 2 Bill Roggio (2010-01-07). "US killed al Qaeda's Lashkar al Zil commander in airstrike". Long War Journal . Retrieved 2020-01-08.
The suicide attack, which killed seven CIA operatives and a Jordanian intelligence official, was designed to "avenge" the death of al Libi, Somali, and former Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, Yazid said, according to a translation of his statement received by The Long War Journal.
- 1 2 Warrick, Joby (2012). The Triple Agent. New York: Vintage Books. pp. 90–91, 154, 157, 187. ISBN 9780307742315.
- ↑ Bill Roggio (2010-01-08). "Al Qaeda Shadow Army commander thought killed in Dec. 17 strike". Long War Journal . Archived from the original on 2016-03-22. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
Abdullah Said al Libi, the leader of the Lashkar al Zil or Shadow Army, is believed to have been killed in the Dec. 17, 2009, swarm attack in the Datta Khel region in North Waziristan.
- ↑ "Prominent terrorist suspects killed in drone strikes". USA Today . 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
December 2009: Abdullah Said al Libi, top commander of the Lashkar al Zil, al-Qaeda's shadow army. Killed in Pakistan.
