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U.S. confirms al Qaeda Â«military brainÂ» killed in drone attack

06 June 2011 20:39 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. The U.S. government has confirmed the killing of al Qaeda operational commander Ilyas Kashmiri, the prime minister of Pakistan said Monday, APA reports quoting CNN.
"The U.S. has confirmed that Ilyas Kashmiri was killed on Friday," said Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani at a Monday press conference in Quetta, the capital of the country’s southwestern province of Balochistan.
Gilani did not explain how he knew the United States had confirmed the death of the man described by counterterrorism officials as al Qaeda’s "military brain."
A spokesman for Kashmiri’s jihadist group, Harakat-ul-Jihad-Islami, previously said Kashmiri was killed, along with some aides, in a strike late Friday night.
Kashmiri’s death is the first major kill or capture since Osama Bin Laden, and the highest profile drone target since Beitullah Mehsud in 2009.
It could also be seen as an embarrassment for Pakistanis, who have twice in just over one month, had a major al Qaeda figure killed on their territory without their participation.
U.S. drones now operate entirely autonomously in Pakistan, a Pakistani intelligence source has told CNN. Whereas before the United States cooperated with Pakistan and used their intelligence, today, the Americans have an intelligence network that allows them to go after terrorists unilaterally.
Kashmiri, a veteran jihadist, was considered one of the most dangerous men in the world by counterterrorism officials on three continents.
He was commander of "Brigade 313" of Harakat-ul-Jihad-Islami, which has formed a close relationship with al Qaeda.
Kashmiri was also said to have ties with David Coleman Headley, the U.S. citizen who confessed to helping scout targets for the Mumbai attack in November 2008.