Ilyas Kashmiri

Name	Ilyas Kashmiri
Birth date	February 10, 1964
Death date	June 03, 2011
Nationality	Pakistani

Ilyas Kashmiri, also referred to as Maulana Ilyas Kashmiri and Muhammad Ilyas Kashmiri (10 February 1964 – 3 June 2011), was a senior al-Qaeda member connected with the Soviet-Afghan war, the Kashmir conflict and attacks against India, Pakistan and the United States. In August 2010, the US and the United Nations designated him a terrorist.

Military career and militant activities

Kashmiri hailed from the Mirpur District although in an interview he denied this. He continued his militant activities in Kashmir after the war as a member of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), though disagreements with leader Qari Saifullah Akhtar several years after initially joining in 1991 led Kashmiri to establish his own new unit within HuJI known as the 313 Brigade.

During the mid-1990s, Kashmiri and Nasrullah Mansoor Langrial were near Poonch when they were seized by the Indian Army and sent to prison, where he would spend the next two years before escaping and returning to Pakistan. Pictures of Kashmiri with the head of the soldier in his hands were published in some Pakistani newspapers. and Kashmiri reportedly moved personnel from his Kotli (Kashmir) training camp to a new one in Razmak (North Waziristan). A U.S. indictment of Kashmiri states that he "was in regular contact with al Qaeda [their italics] and in particular with Mustafa Abu al Yazid..."

He has been associated with a number of attacks, including the killing of Ameer Faisal Alavi. According to The News International, Kashmiri is accused of organizing the December 2009 Camp Chapman attack against the CIA and the United States was seeking his arrest and extradition.

In early 2010, Kashmiri was reported to be the new leader of al-Qaeda's Lashkar al Zil, or Shadow Army, following the apparent death of its former leader Abdullah Said al Libi by an American drone. Kashmiri was also said to have replaced al-Qaeda military chief for Afghanistan and Pakistan Mustafa Abu al-Yazid after al-Yazid was killed in a drone strike on 21 May 2010. According to journalist Amir Mir, citing Pakistani security sources, Kashmiri was subsequently assigned the role of organizing attacks against Western targets after the regional command was taken by Saif Al-Adel, a former Egyptian army colonel newly released from Iran.

In the wake of the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on 2 May 2011 during an American operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan, terrorism analysts put forth Kashmiri's name as one of several possible successors to lead the organization.

U.S. indictment

On 27 October 2009, a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice named Kashmiri as a conspirator to whom an American citizen from Chicago, David Headley, arrested on terrorism related charges, "allegedly reported and attempted to report". The statement also noted that Kashimiri "issued a statement this month that he was alive and working with al Qaeda". A report on details of the investigation stated that Kashmiri "was in regular contact with Headley for some time and their communications suggested that they were in the process of plotting fresh attacks in India." Headley was reportedly distraught at news of Kashmiri's death, but after receiving confirmation that he was still alive, set off for Pakistan, at which time he was arrested by the FBI.

Kashmiri was officially indicted on two counts, for "conspiracy to murder and maim in Denmark" (against the newspaper Jyllands-Posten) and "conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism in Denmark".

Blacklisted as a terrorist by US and UN

On 6 August 2010 the United States labeled Kashmiri a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" while the United Nations added him and his group HuJI to its blacklist established under UN Security Council Resolution 1267. The label allows the United States to freeze any of his assets in US jurisdiction and to "prohibit US persons from engaging in any transactions with him." The UN resolution requires UN member states to freeze assets, ban travel and ban the sale of arms to Kashmiri and HuJI.

Assassination attempt and reported death in 2009

Kashmiri was reported killed along with Hanifullah Janikhel and Kaleemullah in Machikhel, North Waziristan on 7 September 2009 when they were hit by a missile fired from a U.S. drone. At the time he was reportedly one of the top 10 most wanted militant commanders in Pakistan. A senior American official was later quoted by The Washington Times as saying "While there were preliminary indications that Kashmiri may have been dead, there is now reason to believe that he could be alive". One rumor among militants asserted that Kashmiri had been outside urinating when the house he was staying at was hit.

Death

On 3 June 2011, a US drone attack targeted a compound in the Ghwakhwa area of South Waziristan, a Taliban stronghold. Nine militants, including Kashmiri, were reportedly killed in the missile strike. Three other militants were badly injured in the attack. Kashmiri's death was also confirmed by an e-mail from Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami and by an anonymous Pakistani security official. The U.S. defence department has so far declined to confirm Kashmiri's death. However, a U.S. official said that it was more likely than not that Kashmiri is still alive, in spite of Interior Minister Rehman Malik's assertion that he could 'confirm 100 percent that he is dead'. On June 19th, the claim of his death was further backed after a senior US intelligence official in the Obama administration stated that Kashmiri was among five senior Al Qaeda leaders who had been killed in drone strikes in 2011.

References

Category:1964 births Category:2011 deaths Category:People from Kotli District Category:People from Mirpur Category:Kashmir conflict Category:Pakistan Army personnel Category:Member of the Special Forces of Pakistan Category:Pakistani al-Qaeda members Category:Allama Iqbal Open University alumni Category:People involved in the Soviet war in Afghanistan