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Al Qaeda’s Chief of Bombing Attacks Died in U.S. Strike, Pentagon Says Al Qaeda’s Chief of Bombing Attacks Died in U.S. Strike, Pentagon Says
(about 7 hours later)
ERBIL, Iraq — The Qaeda operative in charge of suicide bombings and operations involving explosives was killed in an American airstrike in Afghanistan this month, the Pentagon said on Friday. ERBIL, Iraq — The Qaeda operative in charge of suicide bombings and operations involving explosives was killed in an American airstrike in Afghanistan this month, the Pentagon said Friday.
The operative, Abu Khalil al-Sudani, had been directly involved in plots against the United States as well as against American, Afghan and Pakistani forces, Defense Department officials said. They described Mr. Sudani as a close associate of Ayman al-Zawahri, the Qaeda leader. A Defense Department news release referred to him as “a senior shura member,” referring to a decision-making council. The operative, Abu Khalil al-Sudani, had been directly involved in plots against the United States as well as against American, Afghan and Pakistani forces, Defense Department officials said. They described Mr. Sudani as a close associate of Ayman al-Zawahri, the leader of Al Qaeda, who is believed to be in hiding in Pakistan. A Defense Department news release referred to him as “a senior shura member,” referring to a decision-making council.
Mr. Sudani was killed on July 11 in an airstrike in the Bermal district of Paktika Province in Afghanistan, according to the Pentagon. The Pentagon said Mr. Sudani was killed on July 11 in an airstrike in the Bermal district of Paktika Province in Afghanistan.
Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, who arrived Friday morning in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, for talks with Kurdish leaders, said in a statement that the death of Mr. Sudani showed that the United States would “continue to take the fight to Al Qaeda.” The report could not be independently verified. In phone interviews, Afghan provincial officials in Paktika Province said they were aware of an airstrike in Paktika’s Barmal district about a week ago, but that they were under the impression that the four militants killed in that strike were Taliban, rather than members of Al Qaeda.
The Afghan officials added that NATO forces no longer tell them about their military operations as they had in the past.
Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, who arrived Friday morning in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, said in a statement that the death of Mr. Sudani showed that the United States would “continue to take the fight to Al Qaeda.”
“We will continue to counter violent extremism in the region and around the world, including efforts to deliver a lasting defeat to ISIL,” Mr. Carter added, in a reference to the Islamic State, the Sunni militant group that holds territory in Iraq and Syria.“We will continue to counter violent extremism in the region and around the world, including efforts to deliver a lasting defeat to ISIL,” Mr. Carter added, in a reference to the Islamic State, the Sunni militant group that holds territory in Iraq and Syria.