Score!
(LWJ) — The International Security Assistance Force has confirmed today that al Qaeda’s commander in the contested northeastern province of Kunar was killed during an airstrike earlier this week.
Waqas, an al Qaeda commander from Pakistan, was killed along with an identified number of al Qaeda and Taliban commanders in an airstrike on April 14 in the Dangam district in Kunar.
ISAF has not provided the names and nationalities of the other al Qaeda operatives thought to have been killed in the airstrike, despite multiple inquires by The Long War Journal.
Waqas’ full name is Sa’ad bin Abi Waqas. His fighters, who are members of the Sa’ad bin Abi Waqas Group, are featured in a video released in early 2010 that shows them inventorying equipment provided by donors. The fighters display radios, binoculars, backpacks, uniforms, and other gear donated to the group. Enough equipment was donated to outfit about a platoon of al Qaeda fighters (20-40 men).
Waqas “coordinated attacks against coalition forces,” ISAF stated in a press release today announcing his death. “He was associated with another Pakistan-based senior al Qaeda leader and together they conducted training for members throughout the province, as well as weapons procurement.”
Waqas took control of al Qaeda’s operations in Kunar after the previous leader, Abu Ikhlas al Masri, was captured by ISAF and Afghan commandos in December 2010.