ISLAMABAD — An overnight attack by an unmanned aircraft killed Ilyas Kashmiri, an al-Qaeda-linked operative blamed for several high-profile attacks in Pakistan and India, local news reports and a statement by his banned militant organization said Saturday.
If borne out, this would be the second major U.S. anti-terrorism coup in quick succession, coming just a month after the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by Navy SEALs. Analysts had identified Kashmiri as a possible bin Laden successor.
“This is very good news, especially on the heels of the bin Laden” killing, said Talat Masood, a security analyst and former Pakistani lieutenant general. “He’s a very important leader who played havoc with the region.”
Shoaib Khan, an assistant political agent in South Waziristan, confirmed the killing at a compound in Ghwa Khwa village, adding that Kashmiri and eight other militants were buried in a local graveyard. A senior tribal area official said separately that multiple sources had confirmed Kashmiri was dead.
That said, it is notoriously difficult to corroborate deaths caused by drone attacks. This is particularly true when the strikes occur in isolated border areas, including South Waziristan, site of the late Friday attack.
Many senior militants have been “killed” repeatedly — including Kashmiri, whose death was reported in September 2009 — only to turn up alive a few weeks or months later.
“We confirm that our emir (leader) and commander in chief, Mohammed Ilyas Kashmiri, along with other companions, was martyred in an American drone strike on June 3, 2011, at 11:15 p.m.,” Abu Hanzla Kashir, who identified himself as a spokesman for Kashmiri’s Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami group, said in a statement faxed to a Pakistani television station.
A history of violence
Ilyas Kashmiri, who had a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head, was considered one of Pakistan’s most dangerous and capable militants. He was suspected of helping organize last month’s assault on the Mehran naval base in Karachi and the 2008 attack on the Indian city of Mumbai that killed 166 people.
He started his militant career working for the Pakistani army training Afghan mujahedeen fighters, then fought the Russians in Afghanistan during the 1980s, losing an eye. In 2005, he was arrested on suspicion of involvement in a 2003 assassination attempt against then-President Pervez Musharraf but was released for lack of evidence.
