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In an article in Newsweek (dated 10/23/2010) it was report that Ilyas Kashmiri, 47 has the experience, the connections, and a determination to attack the West—including the United States—that make him the most dangerous al-Qaeda operative to emerge in years.
Evil geniuses are a rare breed, even in the ranks of al-Qaeda.
U.S. intelligence has been watching Kashmiri’s rise to prominence closely. Kashmiri fought the Soviets in Afghanistan, and the Indians in Kashmir and in India itself. He also worked with the Pakistani intelligence service, but turned on Islamabad with a vengeance in 2003, trying to murder then-president Pervez Musharraf. Since then Kashmiri has been linked to planned attacks in Denmark, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, most probably Chicago.
Born in the Pakistani-controlled section of Kashmir in 1964, this veteran terrorist lost an index finger and one of his eyes during the fight against the Soviets in the 1980s. In such photographs as exist, he’s often shown wearing aviator sunglasses. He reportedly changes the color of his thick beard frequently, and it may be white or dyed red with henna, or then again dyed black. But his imposing presence and the deference shown him can still make him stand out.
Kashmiri’s status as a bin Laden favorite has been obvious. Kashmiri rode in a new four-wheel-drive pickup truck flying a white flag. Most of the al-Qaeda leadership is from the Arab world, not South Asia, but Kashmiri attended nearly all the top-secret terrorist summits held in North Waziristan. He was the only non-Arab attending strategy sessions. He came to the most restricted meetings of the Arab mujahedin and he could go to meetings and to areas that were off-limits to some Arab al-Qaeda leaders.
Ilyas Kashmiri killed in US drone strike
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