Abdullah Said al Libi

"Abdallah Sa'id (al Qaida leader)" redirects here. For other uses, see Abdullah Said (disambiguation).
Abdullah Said al-Libi
Died(2009-12-17)December 17, 2009
Pakistan
NationalityLibyan
Other namesAbdallah Sa'id

Abdullah Said al-Libi (died 17 December 2009) was described as being an al Qaeda operational leader in Pakistan.[1][2] He is reported to have previously served in the Libyan military.[3] He led an al-Qaeda paramilitary force.[4] Said al-Libi was killed in a drone strike on 17 December 2009 in North Waziristan.[5][6] In April 2009 he had released a statement where he identified himself as the leader of al Qaeda's efforts to take control of Khorasan - an ancient Islamic province that included Afghanistan, Pakistan, and some neighboring areas.

According to Joby Warrick, the author of The Triple Agent, al Libi had lived with Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, who would later convince Central Intelligence Agency officers that he was their double agent within al Qaeda, only to detonate a suicide bomb, killing several of them.[4] His suicide bombing is said to have been in retaliation for the killing of al Libi, Abu Saleh al Somali and Baitullah Mehsud.[3]

References

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ a b 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.
  4. ^ a b Warrick, Joby (2012). The Triple Agent. New York: Vintage Books. pp. 90–91, 154, 157, 187. ISBN 9780307742315.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "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.