Kashmiri: Most wanted- dead or alive

[Jefferson23]

June 8, 2011

By Malik Ayub Sumbal

ISLAMABAD - Doubts persist over whether or not Ilyas Kashmiri, the head of al-Qaeda's operational arm, has been killed in a United States Predator drone strike in Pakistan, with speculation swirling that reports of his demise might be a ploy to take the heat off the most wanted man in the region.

Kashmiri, 46, the operational commander of the banned Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami militant group and its 313 Brigade, was reported by intelligence officials in Pakistan on Sunday to have been killed in a drone attack on Friday in the South Waziristan Agency tribal area on the border with Afghanistan.

His body, however, has not been found, leading to doubts over the veracity of the claims.

Kashmiri, a highly trained militant who once served as a commander in the Special Services Group of the Pakistan army, has previously twice been reported killed, on 7 and 14 September, 2009. He is wanted in connection with a number of major terrorist attacks in Pakistan and India, including the three-day militant attack on Mumbai in November 2008 in which 163 people were killed.

Most recently, he is believed to have masterminded the brazen attack on a naval air base in the southern port city of Karachi on May 22. (See Al-Qaeda had warned of Pakistan strike Asia Times Online, May 27.)

in full: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/MF08Df02.html