Wednesday, April 21, 2010

As al-Qaida expands, enter Ilyas Kashmiri

As al-Qaida expands, enter Ilyas Kashmiri: "Amid the growing concerns of Western intelligence services that al-Qaida appears to be building up its capabilities in Yemen and Somalia, the focus is increasingly on one man in the jihadist leadership: Mohammed Ilyas Kashmiri.
He commands al-Qaida's elite and infamous Brigade 313, named after the number of supporters who stood with the Prophet Mohammed in a seventh-century battle and defeated a far larger force.
Kashmiri's hand has been seen in a recent spate of attacks and planned operations in India, including the November 2008 carnage in Mumbai; Pakistan; Afghanistan, including the suicide bombing of a CIA base; and as far afield as the Caucasus and Denmark."