Al Qaeda's World Base, Offshoots & Operations: Petraeus

[Merlin]

Good informative comments by Petraeus on recent restructuring of al Qaeda.

Al Qaeda’s world base in Pakistan, says Petraeus

12 May LAHORE: Pakistan has become the nerve centre of Al Qaeda’s global operations, Gen David Petraeus has said.

The head of the US Army’s Central Command, who oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has told an interviewer that Al Qaeda leaders have re-established its organisational structure and stronger ties to Al Qaeda offshoots in Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, North Africa and parts of Europe. “It is the headquarters of the Al Qaeda senior leadership,” said the general. ...

US officials once believed that years of strikes had broken Al Qaeda’s leadership into smaller, less effective splinter groups. But in the interview, Gen Petraeus said fresh intelligence information suggested that Al Qaeda had re-emerged as a centrally directed organisation capable of helping plan attacks in other countries. “There is a degree of hierarchy, there is a degree of interconnection, and there is certainly a flow of people, money, expertise, explosives and knowledge,” he said.

Gen Petraeus painted a picture of an Al Qaeda that maintains extensive links to terror groups in Morocco and Somalia. He said men and supplies pass through southern Iran, helped by Sunni Arab ‘facilitators’ in the country.

A ring of Tunisian suicide bombers apprehended recently in Iraq appeared to have received their directions from Pakistan as well, he said. “There’s absolutely no question about these links.”

[Merlin]

He mentioned the al Qaeda offshoots as "Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, North Africa and parts of Europe".

It is significant that he specifically identify Yemen and Somalia. The 'offshoot' North Africa is new to me.

There is another significant point. While the above are Muslim majority countries and region, Europe is not.

[Merlin]

This link is a full transcript of the FoxNews interview with Petraeus. The interview covers a lot of grounds. I excerpt below only parts relevant to as Qaeda.

Transcript: Gen. David Petraeus on 'FNS'

11 May [FoxNews] CHRIS WALLACE, HOST: With troubling new developments this week in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, we thought the time was ripe for a firsthand assessment of where we stand.

Joining us from U.S. Central Command in Florida is General David Petraeus, who oversees American military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia. ...

WALLACE: You also said this week that Al Qaeda has reemerged in northwestern Pakistan as a centrally organized operation capable of planning attacks in other countries.

Is Al Qaeda back in business, sir?

PETRAEUS: Well, Al Qaeda has been back in business for years, Chris. There is not an enormous revelation here. What I was merely saying was that the location of Al Qaeda's senior leadership is, indeed, in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of that very rugged border region of western Pakistan just east of Afghanistan.

There's no question that Al Qaeda's senior leadership has been there and has been in operation for years. We had to contend with its reach as it sought to facilitate the flow of foreign fighters, resources, explosives, leaders and expertise into Iraq, as you'll recall, through Syria.

We see tentacles of Al Qaeda that connect to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen, the elements Al-Shabab in Somalia, elements in north central Africa, and that strive to reach all the way, of course, into Europe and into the United States.

And of course, there were attacks a couple of years ago in the U.K. that reflected the reach of the transnational extremist elements of Al Qaeda and the other movements in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

WALLACE: And — and, General, do you believe that bin Laden and Zawahiri are still in charge of Al Qaeda?

PETRAEUS: We do. Again, I don't think anyone can give you any kind of accurate location for bin Laden or, frankly, for Zawahiri other than a general description of where that might be, but certainly, they surface periodically.

We see communications that they send out. And of course, they periodically send out videos in which they try to exhort people and to inspire individuals to carry out extremist activities. ...

WALLACE: There is also growing violence in Iraq, amid signs that the Iraqi government is dropping some of the counterinsurgency tactics that you introduced into Iraq. ...

PETRAEUS: ... That did prompt a number of attacks with Iraqi conventional and special operations forces, together with our forces, to go after the reemerging networks of Al Qaeda.

We should expect that Al Qaeda will continue to try to reestablish itself in Iraq, even as the focus of Al Qaeda's senior leadership appears to have shifted away somewhat from support of the activities in Iraq. ...

[Merlin]

In the above interview with Petraeus, one of the operation bases of al Qaeda is 'north central Africa'. Here's a very recent compilation of info of their operations there.

FACTBOX: Key facts on al Qaeda N.Africa wing

3 Jun (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's North Africa wing said on Wednesday it had carried out a threat to kill a British hostage being held in the Sahara.

Here are some key facts on the group, which is based in Algeria and was formerly known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC).

* In late January 2007 the group changed its name from the GSPC to Al Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb after gaining the approval of Osama bin Laden.

* The GSPC, as it was known by its French acronym, aimed to establish an Islamic state within OPEC-member Algeria. The name change was accompanied by a more regional strategy and closer coordination with like-minded groups in neighboring countries. ...

* GSPC's strength was thought to be about 500. It is not clear how many of its members have joined Al Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb. ...

* In April 2007, 33 people were killed in Algiers in a triple suicide bombing.

* On Dec 11 2007, a twin suicide bombing claimed by al Qaeda at U.N. offices and a court building in Algiers killed at least 41 people.

* In February 2008, al Qaeda gunmen attacked the Israeli embassy in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, highlighting Mauritania's status as one of the few Arab countries with diplomatic ties to the Jewish state.

* In February 2008, Austrian tourists Andrea Kloiber, 43, and Wolfgang Ebner, 51, disappeared while on holiday in Tunisia and were held hostage by al Qaeda's North African wing for eight months in a remote desert area of Mali. The group had demanded the release of Islamic militants held in jail in Algeria and Tunisia. The Austrians were freed unharmed eight months later.

* In September 2008, Mauritania said 12 of its soldiers abducted in an attack claimed by al Qaeda were found with their heads cut off, and it appealed for international support to fight terrorism.

* In April 2009 two Canadian diplomats and two European tourists held hostage by al Qaeda's north African wing in the Sahara were released after several months in captivity. The group had demanded 20 of its members be freed from detention in Mali and other countries as a condition for releasing the hostages. ...

[great one]

What about the British tourist who was recently beheaded by the Alqaeda in magreb.

[tankie]

What about the British tourist who was recently beheaded by the Alqaeda in magreb.

Oh dont worry about him , just another pawn lost to the game while we play by the rules , sarky , me ,, nahhhhhhhh ,


an eye for an eye , a tooth for a tooth .Behead them bastards when caught , in full view of their public .

[Guest]

Al Qaida have been kicked out and killed by the Military action going in Pakistan

[great one]

If the current British Government had any backbone they should have sent in the SAS in an attempt to rescue the hostage.

[Merlin]

I didn't know this. To them, it is a logical move, making them difficult to be killed by drone attacks.

Drone attacks in tribal Pakistan force al-Qaeda into urban areas

8 Aug [Times] Key al-Qaeda operatives have been forced out of the tribal regions of Pakistan after drone attacks killed 20 commanders in the past 18 months. They have moved into urban areas, where aerial surveillance is far more complicated, and have been replaced by a younger generation of militants who now control operations on the ground.

Al-Qaeda has been forced to regroup its core leadership with some of the key operatives moving out of the tribal regions into urban compounds in Pakistan to escape the American unmanned spy drones which have killed 20 terrorist commanders in the last 18 months.

Although Osama bin Laden remains the figurehead leader, a 15-member “shura” or supreme council now runs the organisation’s affairs, senior Pakistani intelligence sources say. The sources have disclosed that the council is headed by a Saudi national, Mustafa abul al-Yazidi. Other senior members include a Libyan, Abu Yahaya al-Libbi, along with militants from North Africa and Somalia.

Al-Yazidi is in overall charge of al-Qaeda operations in the region, including Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Pakistani intelligence officials told The Times.

The Predator and Reaper drones are armed with Hellfire missiles and precision-guided bombs and are launched from a base inside Pakistan but controlled from a US Air Force location in Nevada. ....

[axeman]

an eye for an eye , a tooth for a tooth .Behead them bastards when caught , in full view of their public .

Yes, let us also place bombs in their (countries supporting terrorism) markets. Let us also orphan their children and make them all pray to our respective gods !

Your suggestion is a fantastic way of making their actions legitimate.





Note for the dull: Pssst...I'm not serious.

Al Qaida have been kicked out and killed by the Military action going in Pakistan

:)) :)) :))

[Merlin]

Let's put Tankie in charge of the British forces, should we?