This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/26/world/middleeast/abd-al-rahman-mustafa-al-qaduli-isis-reported-killed-in-syria.html

The article has changed 11 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 4 Version 5
U.S. Attack Kills a Top ISIS Leader in Syria, Pentagon Says A Top ISIS Leader Is Killed in an Airstrike, the Pentagon Says
(about 4 hours later)
WASHINGTON — The United States this week killed a top Islamic State commander in Syria as part of a spate of military actions targeting the terrorist group’s leadership and explosives caches, Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said on Friday. WASHINGTON — American Special Operations forces in eastern Syria killed a top Islamic State commander this week, Pentagon officials said Friday, part of a monthslong air campaign the Obama administration boasts is eviscerating the Islamic State even as the group continues to demonstrate the power to sow violence in Western Europe.
The killing of a top commander, Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, who is also known by other names, comes as the United States is having increased success targeting the Islamic State’s leadership. Last week, Defense Department officials concluded that American strikes had killed the group’s minister of war, Omar al-Shishani. The American forces originally hoped to capture the commander, Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, and were following his vehicle in at least two helicopters, according to a senior military official who requested anonymity. But their plan to land Special Operations fighters, seize Mr. Qaduli and return him to the helicopter changed for unknown reasons, and they fired on the vehicle instead, killing him.
“We are systematically eliminating ISIL’s cabinet,” Mr. Carter said at a news conference, using an acronym for the group. Defense Secretary Ashton P. Carter announced Mr. Qaduli’s death, describing him as the group’s top financier, but offered no details of how he had been killed. Mr. Carter said the military effort against the Islamic State was gaining momentum, repeating a claim he has made for the past three months. He also said the group was steadily being drained of leaders, soldiers and money, and was losing its grip on the parts of Iraq and Syria it has controlled.
But he made clear that the challenge was not that simple. The announcement came just three days after the Islamic State killed 31 people in a series of explosions in Brussels, showing in gruesome fashion that its abilities to conduct large-scale terror attacks are hardly diminished. But the week’s events could offer a glimpse of what is to come in the next year as the Islamic State and the United States-led coalition to defeat it engage in a series of punches and counterpunches, with each side claiming the upper hand.
“Striking leadership is necessary,” he said, “but as you know it’s far from sufficient. As you know leaders can be replaced. These leaders have been around for a long time — they are senior and experienced and eliminating them is an important objective and result. They will be replaced and we will continue to go after their leadership.” “This is going to last quite a while,” said Brian Fishman, a terrorism expert at the New America Foundation in Washington. “It’s absolutely true these guys have lost territory in Syria and Iraq. But you don’t need to control a state that size in order to train people to successfully carry out terrorist attacks in Europe.”
This is not the first time Mr. Qaduli is reported to have been killed. In May 2015, Iraq’s Ministry of Defense said that he had been killed by American airstrikes near the northern city of Tal Afar. The Defense Ministry said in a statement at the time that “based on accurate intelligence,” Mr. Afari and several other leaders gathered in a mosque had been killed. American military officials said then that they could not verify those claims. As its base in Syria is pummeled, the Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS and ISIL, is not without advantages. Recent months have shown that European cities are veined with Islamic State networks that provide money, weaponry and false identifications for would-be attackers.
Mr. Carter said Mr. Qaduli was the Islamic States’s finance minister and was responsible for planning some of its attacks abroad. Mr. Carter said he did not know whether he had played a role in the bombings this week in Brussels. These networks have exposed weaknesses of European spy agencies — many of which appear overwhelmed by the threat — and terrorism experts have been particularly alarmed by the bomb-making abilities of the plotters of the attacks in Brussels and in Paris in November. Nevertheless, American officials are convinced that the military campaign is making progress and that they have the right strategy to defeat the group.
“The removal of this ISIL leader will hamper the organization’s ability for them to conduct operations both inside and outside of Iraq and Syria,” he said. “We’ve made a dent in the resources,” said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. John F. Dunford, at the news conference with Mr. Carter. “We’ve started to affect their command and control in a negative way. I think we’ve begun to undermine the narrative. But there’s a lot of work that remains to be done.”
The military also targeted a senior Islamic State leader known as Abu Sarah who was in charge of paying the group’s fighters in northern Iraq, Mr. Carter said. He said American airstrikes had also destroyed “a significant quantity of improvised explosive devices and bomb-making equipment” that could have been used against Iraqi forces as they try and reclaim the city of Mosul. Mr. Qaduli, who was also known as Hajji Imam, was killed as the United States is having increased success targeting the Islamic State’s leadership. Last week, Defense Department officials concluded that American strikes had killed the group’s minister of war, Omar al-Shishani. The military has also targeted a senior Islamic State leader known as Abu Sarah, who was believed to be the group’s chief accountant and was in charge of paying the group’s fighters in northern Iraq, according to the senior military official.
Defense Department officials have declined to elaborate on why they are having more accuracy striking the group’s top commanders. Earlier this year, a special unit of American commandos tasked with identifying, capturing and killing the Islamic State’s leaders arrived in Iraq and began working closely with local forces there. “We are systematically eliminating ISIL’s cabinet,” Mr. Carter said at a news conference, adding that he did not know whether Mr. Qaduli had played a role in the bombings this week in Brussels.
“The momentum of this campaign is clearly on our side,” Mr. Carter said. But he made clear that killing the Islamic State’s leaders would not by itself end the danger it posed.
A similar group of American special forces in Syria has been working alongside rebel groups there for several months. “Striking leadership is necessary, but as you note, it’s far from sufficient,” Mr. Carter said. “Leaders can be replaced. However, these leaders have been around for a long time. They are senior, they’re experienced, and so eliminating them is an important objective and it achieves an important result. But they will be replaced, and we’ll continue to go after their leadership.”
Despite the victories on the battlefields in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State still appears capable of pulling off large, complex attacks far beyond its safe haven. This week, the group claimed credit for the bombings in Brussels that killed 31 people and injured scores. Mr. Carter said American airstrikes had also destroyed “a significant quantity of improvised explosive devices and bomb-making equipment” that could have been used against Iraqi forces as they try and reclaim the city of Mosul.
The State Department, which had offered a $7 million bounty for information about Mr. Qaduli, said he had been a top deputy to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq who was killed by the Americans in 2006. Defense Department officials have declined to elaborate on why they believe they are having more accuracy striking the group’s top commanders. A special unit of American commandos tasked with identifying, capturing and killing the Islamic State’s leaders arrived in Iraq this year and began working closely with local forces there.
A similar group of American Special Operations forces in Syria has been working alongside rebel groups there for several months.