Osama bin Laden dead: Pakistan's status as safe house for jihadis confirmed
Osama bin Laden’s killing “deep inside Pakistan’’ has again authenticated Pakistan’s status as a terror safe haven.
By TNN | Updated:
NEW DELHI: Osama bin Laden’s killing “deep inside Pakistan’’ has again authenticated Pakistan’s status as a terror safe haven. Pakistan is known to protect leaders of anti-India groups like Lashkar and Jaish but Osama’s death, following a series of arrest of top al-Qaida leaders in Pakistan , confirms that even the leading targets of the “war on terror” found safe hideouts in the country.
The list of al-Qaida leaders held in Pakistan includes names like Abu Zubaydah, Ramzi bin Al Shibh and Khalid Sheikh Mohammad. Like Osama, these terrorists were not hiding in tribal areas but in urban centres.
The arrests of Umar Patek—one of the leaders of bomb attacks on foreign tourists in Bali—from Abbottabad , Mullah Baradar — one of the senior leaders of Taliban — from Karachi and that the entire Taliban brass is holed up in Quetta make clear why Pakistan is seen as the headquarters of Jihad Inc.
Once No.3 in the al-Qaida hierarchy and its main recruiter, Zubaydah was arrested from a house in Faisalabad where he would move around dressed in a burqa. Seven months later, one of the main 9/11 accused , Ramzi bin Al Shibh, was traced to Karachi where he was held after a gun fight.
Next year, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed , a key 9/11 planner, was arrested from a house in a posh Rawalpindi colony. He was sharing the house with the leader of a religious party when he was nabbed. One top Taliban leader, who indeed was hiding in a tribal area, was Mustafa Abu Al Yazid. He was said to be next only to Osama and Ayman Al Zawahiri when he was killed by a US drone in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal area last year. The presence of hardcore terrorists is facilitated by the growing appeal of fundamentalism but also raises doubts about Islamabad’s intention.
Security expert Brahma Chellaney said the spotlight will inevitably turn now on Pakistan, the world’s main sanctuary for transnational terrorists. “The fact that bin Laden’s hideout was located not in the mountains of Waziristan but in the military town of Abbottabad only underscores the major protection he must have received from the ISI to help him elude the US dragnet for nearly a decade,’’ he said.
Al-Qaida leaders killed or captured since 9/11
Mar 28, 2002: Palestinian Abu Zubeida, Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man, arrested in Pakistan
Late Oct: Saudi Abdul Rahim al-Nashiri , the organization’s top operations manager in the Gulf, arrested in UAE
Aug 14: Indonesian Riduan Isamuddin, known as Hambali, and suspected of being al-Qaida’s representative in Southeast Asia and alleged mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings, arrested in Thailand
May 2, 2005: Libyan Abu Faraj al-Libbi , al-Qaida’s number three and the head of the network in Pakistan, arrested in the northwest of the country
The list of al-Qaida leaders held in Pakistan includes names like Abu Zubaydah, Ramzi bin Al Shibh and Khalid Sheikh Mohammad. Like Osama, these terrorists were not hiding in tribal areas but in urban centres.
The arrests of Umar Patek—one of the leaders of bomb attacks on foreign tourists in Bali—from Abbottabad , Mullah Baradar — one of the senior leaders of Taliban — from Karachi and that the entire Taliban brass is holed up in Quetta make clear why Pakistan is seen as the headquarters of Jihad Inc.
Once No.3 in the al-Qaida hierarchy and its main recruiter, Zubaydah was arrested from a house in Faisalabad where he would move around dressed in a burqa. Seven months later, one of the main 9/11 accused , Ramzi bin Al Shibh, was traced to Karachi where he was held after a gun fight.
Next year, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed , a key 9/11 planner, was arrested from a house in a posh Rawalpindi colony. He was sharing the house with the leader of a religious party when he was nabbed. One top Taliban leader, who indeed was hiding in a tribal area, was Mustafa Abu Al Yazid. He was said to be next only to Osama and Ayman Al Zawahiri when he was killed by a US drone in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal area last year. The presence of hardcore terrorists is facilitated by the growing appeal of fundamentalism but also raises doubts about Islamabad’s intention.
Security expert Brahma Chellaney said the spotlight will inevitably turn now on Pakistan, the world’s main sanctuary for transnational terrorists. “The fact that bin Laden’s hideout was located not in the mountains of Waziristan but in the military town of Abbottabad only underscores the major protection he must have received from the ISI to help him elude the US dragnet for nearly a decade,’’ he said.
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Al-Qaida leaders killed or captured since 9/11
Mar 28, 2002: Palestinian Abu Zubeida, Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man, arrested in Pakistan
Late Oct: Saudi Abdul Rahim al-Nashiri , the organization’s top operations manager in the Gulf, arrested in UAE
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Mar 1, 2003: Al-Qaida number three and suspected 9/11 mastermind Khaled Sheikh Mohammed arrested in PakistanAug 14: Indonesian Riduan Isamuddin, known as Hambali, and suspected of being al-Qaida’s representative in Southeast Asia and alleged mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings, arrested in Thailand
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Jun 18, 2004: Saudi Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin , al-Qaida’s suspected leader in Saudi Arabia, killed in Riyadh. His predecessor, Yemeni Khaled Ali Haj, had been killed three months earlierMay 2, 2005: Libyan Abu Faraj al-Libbi , al-Qaida’s number three and the head of the network in Pakistan, arrested in the northwest of the country
Aug 11: A Jordanian of Pakistani origin, Abu Qatada, presented as al-Qaida’s “ambassador” in Europe, arrested in Britain for the second time
Feb 27, 2006: Saudi Fahd al-Joweir , chief of Qaida in Saudi Arabia, killed near Riyadh. His predecessor, Saleh Al-Oufi , was killed in August 2005
June 7: The head of the Iraqi section of al-Qaida , Jordanian Abu Mussab al-Zarkawi , killed in air raid during a US-Iraqi operation to the north of Baghdad
Sept 25: Kuwaiti Omar al-Farouk , lieutenant of bin Laden and suspected chief of al-Qaida in Southeast Asia, killed by British troops in Basra in southern Iraq
Jan 29, 2008: An al-Qaida commander in Afghanistan, Abu Laith al-Libi , one of bin Laden’s leading lieutenants, killed by a US missile in northwest Pakistan
Apr 18, 2010: Qaida’s suspected chief in Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi , and his military chief Abu Ayub al-Masri killed in joint US-Iraqi military operations in northern Baghdad
June 1: Qaida says Mustafa Abu al-Yazid , its number three leader and chief of operations in Afghanistan, has been killed
Feb 27, 2006: Saudi Fahd al-Joweir , chief of Qaida in Saudi Arabia, killed near Riyadh. His predecessor, Saleh Al-Oufi , was killed in August 2005
June 7: The head of the Iraqi section of al-Qaida , Jordanian Abu Mussab al-Zarkawi , killed in air raid during a US-Iraqi operation to the north of Baghdad
Sept 25: Kuwaiti Omar al-Farouk , lieutenant of bin Laden and suspected chief of al-Qaida in Southeast Asia, killed by British troops in Basra in southern Iraq
Jan 29, 2008: An al-Qaida commander in Afghanistan, Abu Laith al-Libi , one of bin Laden’s leading lieutenants, killed by a US missile in northwest Pakistan
Apr 18, 2010: Qaida’s suspected chief in Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi , and his military chief Abu Ayub al-Masri killed in joint US-Iraqi military operations in northern Baghdad
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June 1: Qaida says Mustafa Abu al-Yazid , its number three leader and chief of operations in Afghanistan, has been killed
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