On Monday, U.S. officials confirmed that an al-Qaeda member regarded as “probably the most sophisticated terrorist bomb maker on the planet” was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen last year. As Fox News reported, “The Associated Press previously reported that Ibrahim al-Asiri was dead, citing a tribal leader and an Al Qaeda-linked source who said that he was killed in the governate of Marib in eastern Yemen.”
Ibrahim al-Asiri, who supervised a plot to down a jet over Detroit on Christmas 2009, had reputedly created the underwear bomb that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to use to blow up the plane. Abdulmutallab failed to detonate the bomb. Al-Asiri also participated in a scheme to hide explosives in printer cartridges transported to the U.S.
Former CIA deputy director Michael Morell told CBS News, “Probably the most sophisticated terrorist bomb maker on the planet. Incredibly creative, incredibly innovative,” adding that TSA procedures have been made more strict because of al-Asiri. Morell stated, “A good chunk of what you have to take out of your bag and what has to be screened is because of Asiri and his capabilities of putting explosives in very difficult to find places.” – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]A former U.S. intelligence officer specializing in the Middle East says the post “caliphate” Islamic State has morphed into a more traditional terrorist organization and is currently seeking out “high value targets.”
Meanwhile, a new United Nations report issued late last month finds there are somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 ISIS fighters remaining in Iraq and Syria.
“ISIS 2.0 is the al Qaeda model. That’s what we’re seeing now,” Middle East expert Michael Pregent told The Washington Times. “We’re seeing ISIS operate as a traditional terror organization.”
Pregent — a senior fellow with the Hudson Institute — served as a U.S. Army intelligence officer in Iraq and Afghanistan and held multiple positions in U.S. Central Command, specializing in terrorism and counterterrorism.
The expert believes that ISIS has shifted into an “intel gathering period and they’re looking for high value targets.” – READ MORE
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