The U.S. military targeted two of al Qaeda’s most most senior leaders in Afghanistan with a series of drone strikes conducted Sunday in a remote area of Kunar Province.
The Pentagon identified the leaders as Faruq al-Qatani and Bilal al-Utabi, who it says were involved in efforts to re-establish a safe haven in Afghanistan from which to threaten the West as well as efforts to recruit and train foreign fighters.
“We are still assessing the results of the strikes, but their demise would represent a significant blow to the terrorist group’s presence in Afghanistan, which remains committed to facilitating attacks against the United States, our allies, and partners,” Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement issued late Wednesday.
A senior Pentagon official says two separate compounds in Kunar province were leveled by a barrage of hellfire missile fired from multiple drones.
“This is the most significant al Qaeda strike in Afghanistan in several years,” the official said. “Al-Qatani was the number one al Qaeda official in Afghanistan, and Al-Utabi was number two or three.”
The Pentagon says al-Qatani was al Qaeda’s “Emir of Northeastern Afghanistan” and longtime ties to al Qaeda, including ties to Osama Bin Laden before his death.
The strikes come after a four-year search for al-Qatani, and culiminated in an extensive period of surveillance, at what was assessed as two command-and-control locations.
“If these strikes are determined to be successful, eliminating these core leaders of al-Qaeda will disrupt efforts to plot against the United States and our allies and partners around the world, reduce the threat to our Afghan partners, and assist their efforts to deny al-Qaeda safe haven in Afghanistan,” Cook said.
