LONDON and PESHAWAR, Pakistan, April 16, 2008
Infamous Taliban Leader Killed In Pakistan
Mullah Ismail Revered By Militants For Shooting Down U.S. Chinook In 2005, Killing 16 Special Forces
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(AP / CBS)
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Fast Facts Afghanistan Learn about the people, economy and history.
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Fast Facts Pakistan Learn about the people, economy and history.
A senior Taliban commander who became a hero to Islamic militants for his role in shooting down a U.S. helicopter in 2005, killing all 16 special forces troops aboard, has been killed by Pakistani security forces, officials and Taliban militants tell CBS News.
Mullah Ismail, a notorious Taliban commander from the Afghan province of Kunar, was killed in a shootout with Pakistani police as he traveled with a kidnapped trader, a local police officer said Wednesday. He was apparently on his way into the lawless Northwest Frontier Province along the Afghan border.
Officer Mukarma Khan said Ismail, also known as Mullah Ahmad Shah, had kidnapped the trader from a camp for Afghan refugees in Pakistan and was trying to transport him back to the border when he failed to stop at the checkpoint. He apparently opened fire on the police and was killed in the following exchange of gunfire.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the death of the key commander and said he was a prominent Taliban figure in the area.
Abdul Jalal Jalal, chief of police in Afghanistan's Kunar province, where Ismail was based, told CBS News that he was also aware about the militant's death in Pakistan. He described him as the "most wanted terrorist in Kunar province."
A Taliban sub-commander in Kunar province, who spoke on condition of anonymity, would not confirm the killing. But he told CBS News Ismail's death "would be a full-scale blow." He praised Ismail for the shooting down of the Chinook in 2005.
Ismail was also said to be a key facilitator of al Qaeda militants in the region - many of whom come from outside southeast Asia and do not speak the local languages. According to Taliban sources, Osama bin Laden personally honored Ismail's authority in the area after the Chinook attack in a letter sent through an intermediary.
Police chief Jalal said Ismail and the militants under his command were behind many attacks on NATO, U.S. and Afghan forces in the northeastern part of Afghanistan.
Ismail became a hero for al Qaeda and the Taliban after his group hit a U.S. Navy MH-47 Chinook helicopter in late June 2005, apparently with a shoulder-fired rocket. The helicopter was one of four aircraft ferrying special forces into the area on a reconnaissance mission.
It was considered a lucky shot from an inaccurate weapon; but it left eight Navy SEALs and eight Army air crew from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment dead. Read report from June 30, 2005.
It was the deadliest single attack on U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the invasion to topple the Taliban in 2001.
The Chinook was shot down as it ferried troops into the region to search for four Navy SEALs who had gone missing in the area in late June. Three of the men were found dead, but one, who was wounded, managed to escape - read report from July 3, 2005 - to a local home, where he was hidden from the Taliban and eventually rescued by U.S. forces.
On Wednesday, Afghan shepherd Gulab Khan, who says he's the one who saved the life of the only surviving SEAL, told CBS News that Mullah Ismail attacked his village the day after the helicopter was shot down, searching for any survivors.
Khan said he protected the SEAL, but his actions brought death threats from Ismail and his militants, which prompted the shepherd to relocate his entire family to the provincial capital. He described Ismail as the most powerful militant in Kunar province.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
More From War On Terror
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
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See all 88 CommentsPosted by Glock4me at 12:56 PM : Apr 17, 2008
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not only is he attending but he is hoping to be the first one to torch the american flag at the "barking at the moon'' ceremony
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Posted by FloydZepp at 07:22 AM : Apr 17, 2008
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why?? all those screeching gives you a bad case of ''guilt''?
Sorry but blaming someone else doesn''t absolve you for your part in hate mongering....
Posted by andersonk49
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So, does this mean that Bush is going to Helll? I bet Bush is BEGGING the Pope for forgiveness! That''s why he''s throwing the Pope a Party!
Bush is trying to BUY his way into Heaven from the Pope!
Wow, A Fascist Begging a Nazi for Forgiveness!
This has got to be a New one for the History Books!
You make a point that the neocons don''t want to acknowledge, the suicide bombers do accept the immediate consequence of their actions, death. They believe their death will help those left behind in their struggle.
The Neocons, on the other hand, believe their struggle to be worth breaking any law, treaty, or human consideration that gets in the way of their agenda, but will do anything they can to avoid responsibility, they are afraid to face the consequences of their actions.
Between the two, the suicide bombers show the greater honor, and because they believe so strongly in their rightness, they will eventually win.
===Not gonna happen here at atheist/lib central. These looney moveon.orger''''s think JUST LIKE the terrorists.===
posted by libagenda
Since terrorists believe in killing anyone who gets in the way of their goals, even civilians, I would say that makes them more like you war-loving neocons. Well, except for one thing. The terrorists actually fight their own battles, unlike the neocons, who prefer to send others to do their fighting. I guess that makes the terrorists one step above neocons.
posted by libagenda
Since terrorists believe in killing anyone who gets in the way of their goals, even civilians, I would say that makes them more like you war-loving neocons. Well, except for one thing. The terrorists actually fight their own battles, unlike the neocons, who prefer to send others to do their fighting. I guess that makes the terrorists one step above neocons.
In Afghanistan airspace.
What was it doing there?
Aiding in the killing of Afghanis, who were no threat to the US.
Why were Afghanis shooting at it?
Because it had no business being there, doing what it was doing.
Why are the neocons so upset when anyone brings up these points?
Because the points are true, and they have no real logic to use in argument.
Yeah!!! Just where in Iraq was he killed? I know they''ve been chasing this guy for a long time, and, what?
What''s that you say?
He was killed in Afghanistan? What do you mean in Afghanistan? Not Iraq? But that is where Al Queda is in Iraq!
Right?
Didn''t the Republican Administration finish the job killing Al Queda in Afghanistan? I mean, they just wouldn''t leave a job undone to to something else, would they
Naw!
So - what this article is saying - is - that Al Queda is in Afghanistan still and Iraq was a personal war and started before the job of killing terrorists was completed in Afghanistan.
Makes one ponder the rational of the people (Republicans) leading our Brave Military Personnel!
Does it NOT?
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