Today, we have a potentially huge story, US, Israel worked together to track and kill al-Qaida No. 2 – AP, from the sidebar of the What Others are Writing Section on the Homepage. The two other articles that come in for honorable mention are Top US official admits lying to Trump on American troop levels in Syria – Task & Purpose and Three Tough Choices Europe must face with Biden as President – Wavell Room both are frustrating on so many levels that I don’t know where to start. All I can say is that admitting there is a problem is the first step. If you haven’t already done so, head over to the front page and check out some of the other candidates for today’s Featured Article, there seems to be some wish casting on there today.
Today’s featured article, US, Israel worked together to track and kill al-Qaida No. 2 from the AP details the potential that, acting on US intelligence, Israel was responsible for the killing of al-Qaida’s second in command in Tehran on August 7 this year.
Why This Is Important
The idea that an al-Qaida leader was provided sanctuary by Iran has been unthinkable or simply willfully denied by many analysts which have gone to great lengths to dismiss any evidence to the contrary. It would seem highly unlikely that the number 2 of al-Qaida would be there without Iran’s knowledge. As the U.S. most likely transitions to new leadership, this story will be important to remember as the current administrations ‘maximum pressure’ is reevaluated.
From the AP:
The United States and Israel worked together to track and kill a senior al-Qaida operative in Iran earlier this year, a bold intelligence operation by the two allied nations that came as the Trump administration was ramping up pressure on Tehran.
Four current and former U.S. officials said Abu Mohammed al-Masri, al-Qaida’s No. 2, was killed by assassins in the Iranian capital in August. The U.S. provided intelligence to the Israelis on where they could find al-Masri and the alias he was using at the time, while Israeli agents carried out the killing, according to two of the officials. The two other officials confirmed al-Masri’s killing but could not provide specific details.
According to The New York Times, Iran has denied the attack took place there which is not really a surprise given that a proven or admitted al-Qaida presence there will only hurt the prospects for a softening of U.S.-Iran relations under a potential Biden administration and European governments that have seen a recent rise in Islamic Terror attacks. The AP report continues (emphasis mine):
Al-Masri was gunned down in a Tehran alley on Aug. 7, the anniversary of the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Al-Masri was widely believed to have participated in the planning of those attacks and was wanted on terrorism charges by the FBI.
Al-Masri’s death is a blow to al-Qaida, the terror network that orchestrated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S, and comes amid rumors in the Middle East about the fate of the group’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri. The officials could not confirm those reports but said the U.S. intelligence community was trying to determine their credibility.
Wait, what? I try to keep up the news as best as I can but what are these rumors? For that we will go to Al Bawaba and their report about the fate of Al-Qaeda’s chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri:
Unconfirmed reports have been hinting at the possible death of Al-Qaeda’s chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who had succeeded Osama bin Laden after the latter’s death in 2011. This news has been circulating online without any official statements so far.
Reports of Al-Zawahiri’s demise were first tweeted by Syrian-American journalist Hassan Hassan, who said that the 69-year old Egyptian chief of Al Qaeda terrorist group “died about a month ago of natural causes.”
According to Hassan, the word has been circulating amongst what he called “jihadi circles,” noting that “some sources close to Hurras Al-Din also known as Guardians of Religion Organization, the Syrian group affiliated with Al Qaeda, have been treating these reports as confirmed.”
None of the sources quoted have yet revealed any details about the location of Al-Zawahiri’s reported death.
Yes, this is potentially huge news and the death al-Qaida’s leadership will be a blow, but there should be no reason to believe that these loses would be an end to the terror organization. In fact, I would not be surprised to see them change tactics and end up being more difficult to combat in their absence… a devil you know sort of thing. Hopefully, I am wrong in that sentiment. For more details of the raid, we return to our Featured Article:
The official in the intelligence community said al-Masri’s daughter, Maryam, was also a target of the operation. The U.S. believed she was being groomed for a leadership role in al-Qaida and intelligence suggested she was involved in operational planning, according to the official, who like the others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.
Al-Masri’s daughter was the widow of Hamza bin Laden, the son of al-Qaida mastermind Osama bin Laden. He was killed last year in a U.S. counterterrorism operation in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.
The article indicates that not only was the No. 2 for al Qaida gotten, but potentially one of the next generation also. That could have more of an effect, long-term, than the targeted killing of al-Masri himself. The report continues with the following details:
Iran denied the reports, saying the government is not harboring any al-Qaida leaders and blaming the U.S. and Israel for trying to foment anti-Iranian sentiment. U.S. officials have long believed a number of al-Qaida leaders have been living quietly in Iran for years and publicly released intelligence assessments have made that case.
Al-Masri’s death, albeit under an assumed name, was reported in Iranian media on Aug. 8. Reports identified him as a Lebanese history professor potentially affiliated with Lebanon’s Iranian-linked Hezbollah movement and said he had been killed by motorcycle gunmen along with his daughter.
Lebanese media, citing Iranian reports, said that those killed were Lebanese citizen Habib Daoud and his daughter Maraym.
The deaths of al-Masri and his daughter occurred three days after the catastrophic Aug. 4 explosion at the port of Beirut and did not get much attention. Hezbollah never commented on reports and Lebanese security officials did not report that any citizens were killed in Tehran.
A Hezbollah official on Saturday would not comment on al-Masri’s death, saying Iran’s foreign ministry had already denied it.
For more details on al-Masri himself, the Long War Journal has you covered here. This is potentially huge news that we will have to continue to monitor. Let us also not forget that the Trump administration authorized the killing of Qasem Soleimani, these could have been linked.