Ilyas Kashmiri killed in drone strike

BBC reports that in this particular drone attack, Ilyas Kashmirei of the 313 brigade may have been killed. If true then we should call this drone as “Ababeel” or “Drone Shareef”Recommend

It seems to me another drama. There were reports that US has asked Pakistan to capture Kashmiri by July so this new nautanki is being played. Recommend

These self designated Jihadis who hav done nothing but to use Islam’s name for their own interests / politics must be eliminated sooner than later. Recommend

Long live the drones!!!!Recommend

I’ll say first that yes, I acknowledge drone strikes kill civilians sometimes. I will also say that I’m sure some reports are, in fact, accurate.

However, don’t trust too much in the numbers given. You have to realize that a lot of the time they are being given by the very same people who associate with the ones you find making fake propaganda updates in real time on the internet.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just go look it up. It’s not a theory or a hunch. They’re very real and they don’t try to hide it.

Kind of amusing really. According to them a random non-muslim’s tank has been blown up every 5 minutes, along with random territorial gain claims.Recommend

security official confirmed the strike but said the “identities of those killed in the attack were not immediately known”. So let me know who is confirming death of Ilyas Kashmiri.Recommend

Boom here it is… way to goRecommend

10 KMs from Wana in SWA? Didint we say that SWA was under complete control of the army ? Just 2 days back we were informed that there was no need of an operation in NWA. How many kashmiris enjoying in areas supposed to be in our control. Why do we have to protest against drones, they are doing a good job.Recommend

2 down…… 20,000 to go…Recommend

Saleem Shahzad’s interview of Ilyas Kashmiri back in Oct 2009
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KJ15Df03.htmlRecommend

Just to get the facts straight, this guy was launched by ‘Pak’ Fauj.
An excerpt from a piece of writing by Saleem Shehzad:

So far A-Qaeda has introduced a few leaders for example Ilyas Kashmiri and his highly sophesticated guerrilla 313 Brigade who espoused the global Jihad.

Born in Bimbur (old Mirpur) in the Samhani Valley of Pakistan-administered Kashmir on February 10, 1964, Ilyas passed the first year of a mass communication degree at Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad. He did not continue due to his heavy involvement in jihadi activities.

The Kashmir Freedom Movement was his first exposure in the field of militancy, then the Harkat-ul Jihad-i-Islami (HUJI) and ultimately his legendary 313 Brigade. This grew into the most powerful group in South Asia and its network is strongly knitted in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir, India, Nepal and Bangladesh. According to some CIA dispatches, the footprints of 313 Brigade are now in Europe and capable of the type of attack that saw a handful of militants terrorize the Indian city of Mumbai last November.

Little is documented of Ilyas’ life, and what has been reported is often contradictory. However, he is invariably described, certainly by world intelligence agencies, as the most effective, dangerous and successful guerrilla leader in the world.

He left the Kashmir region in 2005 after his second release from detention by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and headed for North Waziristan. He had previously been arrested by Indian forces, but he broke out of jail and escaped. He was then detained by the ISI as the suspected mastermind of an attack on then-president Pervez Musharraf, in 2003, but was cleared and released. The ISI then picked Ilyas up again in 2005 after he refused to close down his operations in Kashmir.

His relocation to the troubled border areas sent a chill down spines in Washington as they realized that with his vast experience, he could turn unsophisticated battle patterns in Afghanistan into audacious modern guerrilla warfare.

Ilyas’ track record spoke for itself. In 1994, he launched the al-Hadid operation in the Indian capital, New Delhi, to get some of his jihadi comrades released. His group of 25 people included Sheikh Omar Saeed (the abductor of US reporter Daniel Pearl in Karachi in 2002) as his deputy. The group abducted several foreigners, including American, Israeli and British tourists and took them to Ghaziabad near Delhi. They then demanded that the Indian authorities release their colleagues, but instead they attacked the hideout. Sheikh Omar was injured and arrested. (He was later released in a swap for the passengers of a hijacked Indian aircraft). Ilyas escaped unhurt. On February 25, 2000, the Indian army killed 14 civilians in Lonjot village in Pakistan-administered Kashmir after commandos had crossed the Line of Control (LoC) that separates the two Kashmirs. They returned to the Indian side with abducted Pakistani girls, and threw the severed heads of three of them at Pakistani soldiers.

The very next day, Ilyas conducted a guerilla operation against the Indian army in Nakyal sector after crossing the LoC with 25 fighters of 313 Brigade. They kidnapped an Indian army officer who was later beheaded – his head was paraded in the bazaars of Kotli back in Pakistani territory.

However, the most significant operation of Ilyas was in Aknor cantonment in Indian-administered Kashmir against the Indian armed forces following the massacre of Muslims in the Indian city of Gujarat in 2002. In cleverly planned attacks involving 313 Brigade divided into two groups, Indian generals, brigadiers and other senior officials were lured to the scene of the first attack. Two generals were injured (the Pakistan army could not injure a single Indian general in three wars) and several brigadiers and colonels were killed. This was one of the most telling setbacks for India in the long-running Kashmiri insurgency.

Within just months of arriving in the Afghan war theater in 2005, Kashmiri redefined the Taliban-led insurgency based on legendary Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap’s three-pronged guerrilla warfare strategy. For the Taliban, the main emphasis was to be placed on cutting NATO’s supply lines from all four sides of Afghanistan, and carrying out special operations similar to the Mumbai attack in Afghanistan. (See Asia Times Online)

Ref: http://www.syedsaleemshahzad.com/2011/05/bin-ladens-death-new-organization-leadership-emerges/Recommend

@alizgraphikz: Here goes the sayings: The enemy of my enemy is my friend and so goes for the US. Let’s see when your Imran Khan (Talib/Dharna) Khan is doing his next dharna?Recommend

Ilyas was “Mujahideen” and a “Strategic asset” till he killed foreigners/civilians in India.

When he did PNS Mehran, he became a villain?

Drone attacks are violation of “Sovereignity”.

When they kill Ilyas, they are Halaal?

Time for average Pakistanis to open the eyes and prepare for other “Strategic assets” like Haqqani, Mulla Omar, Dawood Ibrahim, Gulbadin Hekmatyar, Ayman Al Zawahiri to becoamse “Toxic” assets! Can Pakistan sustain that?Recommend

Long live the drones and the intelligence which spotted him, be it Pakistani or Raymond davis. Long live the threats from US of A without which Pak wont act.Recommend

@alizgraphikz:
Why would they hunt our soldiers? What is sensible in your statement?Recommend

what abt whole tehreek e talibanRecommend

@Bambayya:
Please wake up. He was a senior Al-Qaeda member. He also scripted the 26/11 mumbai attack. Atleast you can read the story of martyred Saleem shahzad.Recommend

@hassan: Harakatul Jihad, his organization, confirm his death. http://www.dawn.com/2011/06/04/ilyas-kashmiri-killed-in-us-drone-strike.htmlRecommend

He was Global Terrorist and also involved in PNS Mehran Attack………so Good ho gia haRecommend

Its june not JANUARY!Recommend

@Akthar The success rate of drone strike is only 1% they also kill many of innocent people ..A FACT not be justified .Drone strike is rising terrorrism in pakistan not in US.Recommend

God bless United States of America..Recommend

JI is holding a dharna in Karachi right now, are they condemning Ilyas Kashmiris death?Recommend

A lot has happened for the past one week but no comments from dear Imran Khan. Somebody in Pakistan must interview and ask him whether he would sit on dharna with his holi brigade for this deadly drone attack killing ten innocents including peaceful Kashmiri.Recommend

This story must be taken with a pinch of salt as it has not been confirmed by the Americans. Recommend

Is it the out come of US – Pak antiterorist squad ? If so its a good development .Now the loss of inncent lives can be avoided at the same time Drone operation will be not treated as breach of Pak sovereinity ,Is it the out come of US – Pak antiterorist squad ? If so its a good development .Now the loss of inncent lives can be avoided at the same time Drone operation will be not treated as breach of Pak sovereinity ,Recommend

Down with terrorism.

God bless Pakistan, USA and peace all over.

I hope more of these high value targets (remember baitullah mehsud ) are killed. Preferably by pak army other wise drones.Recommend

Go Drones Go. More drones less terrorists. 9 down out of 313 Bloodthirsty animals 304 left. Recommend

good job Drones..Recommend

This underlines the fact that if Pakistan is serious about terrorism then what they can do.
But there is big IF.Recommend

Those who cry that “innocents” are killed, umight want to remind themselves that all those who associate with such nefarious characters have long lost their innocence and should not be grieved over.
And, all those who “demand” proof also need to reassure themselves that proof will come in either of two ways: if they are not dead, they will soon walk amongst you or killed by arranging a suicide bomber to explode himself amongst you and if they are dead, neither of those things shall happen for a long time. No photos necessary. In any case, do you think Photoshop does not have the capability of producing a picture of a cadaver?Recommend

Imran Khan is a big hypocrite. After womanizing all over the world, he has become a big thakaidaar of Islam just like his fanatical spiritual fathers, the mullahs, because he knows so to come into power in Pakistan, one needs the blessings of the army, and the army will never approve one unless one has a cover of religiosity.Recommend

Yes ! Drones worked!! Thay actually do take out high value assets! Believe me, i have spent many hours to verify the info, but its not BS,
One more cockroach bites the dust !!!Recommend

great; he’s dead.

now let’s not breed more crocodiles like him in the future…you know what they say about roaches — 5% of the population can stage a comeback in a matter of weeksRecommend

I did post a comment regarding the number of innocents earlier. But, after seeing some newer comments I’m compelled to add on to what I said before.

It’s the opposing side (Pakistan/America/etc.) that uses the words “militants” and “terrorists” when referencing their enemy. Those militants and terrorists do not call themselves militants and terrorists.

On their side, the militants are considered civilians who are fighting for whatever the conspiracy of the week is. If a drone strike kills 100 dangerous militants and the report comes from a supportive local person, they will say that 100 civilians have been killed and to them, that isn’t a lie.

It’s not rare for politically and religiously charged claims to twist semantics. That is one way of misleading people while still holding on to their supporters.Recommend

@ Ali – yes and Serbia turned him over to The Hague for justice. Has Pakistan turned over a single terrorist for crimes against humanity? No. Zero. The world has tried to play nice with Pakistan but it hasn’t worked for decades. The US finally woke up and said “Okay, fine. We will clean up Pakistan’s garbage.”

Pakistan should be dancing in the streets for these drones. They are doing the work that the military refuses to. Either kill the terrorists or die at their hands. They cannot co-exist or reason with sane, open-minded human beings.Recommend

If one ignore the strident shrieks of the “ghairatmund” brigade, it may appear that the drones are an effective and clinical way of dealing with terrorism. Unlike artillery and air strikes civilian casualties are effectively minimized due two factors – the drones can hover around for hours over the target until everything has been ascertained and the hellfire missiles are precise.

The only problem is that they are US-controlled. However, can Pakistan really claim to actual real sovereignty over the FATA areas? For 64 years the states hold has been tenuous at best. These days it has become more of a joke as large parts of it have become either no man zones or ‘enemy’ territory.

Sadly, if drone technology was ever handed over to Pakistan, probably the first place our generals would use it would be in Balochistan to kill our own citizens.Recommend

@Khurram:
Please refer my reply posted to Mirza. It covers the pertinent points raised by you.
Have a great day ! Recommend

Drones being flown by Uncle’s men in ‘stars wars clothing’ sitting somewhere far away- effective and ruthless. Love Just waiting for Pakistanis to start demonstrating again against foreign intruders. But Uncle will keep flying these drones to get the likes of Kashmiri. Recommend

Alhamdoulillah! Today the whole of kashmir will rejoice for the killer of innocent kashmiris has been sent to his creator. Hopefully he wont get the necessary virgins as he will be declared a murderer of innocent kashmiris and not a martyr.Recommend

Rest him in Arabian Sea with his boss.Recommend