The Long War Journal - Details

Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Hajji Hammadi, killed by US forces on Nov. 11, 2008.

US forces killed another senior al Qaeda in Iraq leader during counterterrorism raids in Iraq. Hajji Hammadi, an al Qaeda leader in eastern Anbar province, is the fourth senior al Qaeda leader killed in Iraq and neighboring Syria over the past six weeks.

Hammadi was killed by the hunter-killer teams of Task Force 88 on Nov. 11. The special operations forces killed Hammadi and an associate after a firefight broke out during an operation to capture him in Baghdad’s Mansour neighborhood.

Hammadi, who was also known as Hammadi Awdah Abd Farhan and Abd al Salam Ahmad Abdallah al Janabi, was an Iraqi who was involved with al Qaeda in Iraq since its formation. He had "connections with the country’s legacy al Qaeda leadership," including Abu Musab al Zarqawi and Abu Ayyub al Masri, according to Multinational Forces Iraq.

Zarqawi appointed Hammadi the emir, or leader, of Karmah in eastern Anbar province and Abu Ghraib, an al Qaeda haven just west of Baghdad. Hammadi led an al Qaeda unit during the second battle of Fallujah, where more than 2,000 al Qaeda in Iraq and allied insurgents were killed during the US effort to clear the city.

He was detained in 2006, escaped from prison in 2007, and then resumed his duty as the emir of Karmah and Abu Ghraib, Multinational Forces Iraq told The Long War Journal in an email inquiry.

As an emir in eastern Anbar, Hammadi was "responsible for planning and conducting multiple attacks on Coalition forces, Iraqi Police, Iraqi government officials and Iraqi citizens," the US military stated. "These attacks were carried out as suicide and car bombings, kidnappings, executions and assassinations."

His most recent high profile attack was the June 26, 2008 suicide strike at a tribal meeting in Karmah. Twenty Iraqis, including the town mayor and several sheikhs, and three US Marines, including Lieutenant Colonel Max Galeai, the commander of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines were killed in the deadly attack. An al Qaeda operative disguised himself as a policeman and penetrated security for the event.

Hammadi has also been behind the assassinations of several leaders and members of the Sons of Iraq, the local tribal fighters that organized to oppose al Qaeda in Iraq, as well as the kidnapping and murder of US Army Staff Sergeant Matt Maupin in 2004.

The Karmah region was one of the last areas in Anbar province that was tamed by US and Iraqi forces in conjunction with the Anbar Awakening. Karmah and Abu Ghraib were part of al Qaeda's western Baghdad "belt," one of four regions surrounding the capital. Al Qaeda used these belts to control access to Baghdad and funnel money, weapons, car bombs, and fighters into the city. Al Qaeda also attempted to strangle the US helicopter air lanes to western Anbar by emplacing anti-aircraft cells along known routes.

Taking down al Qaeda's leadership team in Iraq

Hammadi is the fourth senior al Qaeda in Iraq leader killed since Oct. 5. The targeting of al Qaeda's senior leadership has further degraded the terror group's ability to conduct successful, high profile attacks, the US military said.

US special operations forces killed Abu Qaswarah al Skani (the Swede), al Qaeda's second in command, during a raid in Mosul. Qaswarah, whose real name is Mohamed Moumou, was born in Morocco and held citizenship in Sweden. Originally a member of Ansar al Sunnah, he trained in al Qaeda camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the 1990s and had close connections with Zarqawi. He commanded al Qaeda forces in northern Iraq before being appointed al Qaeda in Iraq's second in command.

The second major kill by US forces took place outside of Iraq's borders, in eastern Syria, on Oct. 27. Task Force 88 conducted a daring daylight raid in an attempt to capture Abu Ghadiya, al Qaeda senior facilitator and logistics coordinator for foreign fighters entering Iraq. He, along with several members of his staff, were killed in the ensuing firefight. Ghadiya, whose real name is Badran Turki Hishan Al Mazidih, was an Iraqi from the northern city of Mosul. Zarqawi appointed Ghadiya as al Qaeda's senior facilitator in Syria in 2005. After Zarqawi's death, he took orders directly from Abu Ayyub al Masri, al Qaeda's current leader.

Iraqi soldiers and the Sons of Iraq scored the third major kill during an operation in Tarmiyah on Nov. 7. Abu Ghazwan, whose real name is Saad Ismael Abdul Salah al Hiyali, was a senior al Qaeda leader in the regions north of Baghdad in Salahadin and northern Baghdad province. He was a direct associate of al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al Masri. In 2006 and 2007, Ghazwan led al Qaeda's efforts to take control of Baghdad. He commanded the northern Baghdad belt region.

Map of Afghanistan's provinces. Click map to view larger image.

US and Pakistani forces operating along the porous border between Afghanistan’s Paktika province and the Waziristan tribal areas in Pakistan’s tribal areas coordinated attacks against Taliban forces on Nov. 18. The cooperative effort is the second this week, and signals a renewed effort to stem the flow of Taliban fighters crossing the border is underway.

The US military contacted the Pakistani military after a US combat outpost and an Afghan checkpoint came under “artillery fire” from Taliban forces operating across the border in the lawless Waziristan tribal region on Nov. 18. “The Pakistani military then launched a mortar strike on the insurgents’ firing location inside Pakistan,” an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) press release stated.

It is unclear if there were Taliban casualties, but no US or Afghan forces were killed or wounded in the initial attack. ISAF did not say if the attack was launched from North or South Waziristan. The powerful Haqqani Network and Taliban forces under the command of Hafiz Gul Bahadar operate in North Waziristan. Taliban forces under the command of Baitullah Mehsud and Mullah Nazir operate in South Waziristan.

The Nov. 18 incident was preceded by another coordinated US-Pakistani strike. Taliban teams twice fired rockets at a US base in Paktika province on Nov. 16. The US military determined the rockets were launched from within Pakistan, “coordinated with the Pakistan military,” and fired 20 “artillery rounds” at the launch site in Waziristan, ISAF reported. “The Pakistan soldiers assured ISAF that they would engage any insurgents attempting to flee deeper into Pakistan.”

US and Afghan forces have fought pitched battles against the Taliban in Paktika, and Paktia provinces over the past week. On Nov.16, US attack helicopters killed a “large number of insurgents” after they attacked a combat outpost in Paktika’s Bermel district.

On Nov. 15, US troops killed 10 Haqqani Network fighters and captured a commander in Paktia. The day prior, US forces killed four al Qaeda operatives, also in Paktia province.

Operation Lionheart in the Kunar-Bajaur border region

The US and Pakistani military have also increased cooperation further north on the Afghan border. US troops operating in Afghanistan’s Kunar province are coordinating their efforts with Pakistani forces fighting the Taliban in Bajaur.

The effort, called Operation Lionheart, has US soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade conducting simultaneous operations in the Kunar River Valley and along the mountain border crossings with Pakistan.

"The objective is to share intelligence and prevent the enemy from transiting the border, as they continue operations to defeat the insurgents in Bajaur agency,” said Colonel John Spiszer, the brigade commander at a Pentagon briefing on Nov. 18. “By conducting near-simultaneous operations on both sides of the border, we're making it difficult for the enemy to operate and eliminating his essential safe havens.”

The US military has refocused its “intelligence surveillance reconnaissance assets, to do everything we can to identify [insurgents] transiting across the border,” Spiszer said. He has conducted meetings with the Bajaur Scouts, a unit that is part of Pakistan’s Frontier Corps, as well as with the Pakistani Army. “We are in coordination on a daily basis with the Frontier Corps,” said Spiszer.

Operation Lionheart was launched just as a report of increased cooperation between the US and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency, according to a report in the Asia Times.

“High-level meetings between US intelligence and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) have already been held at different levels to devise plans to cripple the support systems of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Pakistan,” the Asia Times reported. “Two prominent names came under discussion at these meetings: retired Lieutenant-General Hamid Gul and a former ISI official, retired Squadron Leader Khalid Khawaja.” Both Gul and Khawaja have a long history of supporting the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies.

A senior US military intelligence official confirmed to The Long War Journal that talks are underway, and described the concept as “nothing short of a huge mistake.” ISI agents trained by Gul and Khawaja would sniff out such plans, and retaliate.

The pro-Taliban elements of the ISI have an extensive network inside Pakistan, and are believed to have aided in the numerous attacks on high-security Pakistani military installations, such as a triple suicide attack on the Wah weapons factory, multiple attacks inside the so-called military garrison city of Rawalpindi, several attacks on military bases housing Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, and a suicide strike at officer's dinner on a base operated by the Special Services Group, Pakistan’s elite counterterrorism unit.

As the news broke of increase US and ISI cooperation, Major General Amir Faisal Alvi, the former commander of Special Services Group was assassinated while driving to Islamabad. Alvi had eight bullet wounds, including three fatal shots to the head. His driver was struck with seven bullets and also was killed.

Map of the tribal areas and the Northwest Frontier Province. The government signed peace agreements in the red agencies/ districts (the military said Shangla was under Taliban control in October); purple districts are under de facto Taliban control; yellow regions are under Taliban influence.

The Taliban continue to ruthlessly attack the Bajaur tribes that are organizing against the extremists as Pakistan’s practice of compelling the tribes to fight the Taliban may destabilize the region further.

The latest strike, which appears to be a suicide attack, took place in a mosque during prayers in the Mamond region in Bajaur.

Six people were killed, including the leader of a "national" lashkar, or tribal militia, and several more were wounded, Geo TV reported.

Today's attack follows a gun battle in Bajaur on Nov. 17, after a Taliban force estimated at 150 strong attacked a tribal leader's home in the Damadola region in Bajaur. The assault was led by none other than Faqir Mohammed, the leader of the Taliban in Bajaur.

The Taliban killed four "elders" of the Mamond tribe and three tribal fighters. Eight tribal leaders were captured, including the leader of the anti-Taliban militia, but three eventually escaped. One of the tribal leaders identified Faqir as being among the Taliban force.

The captured tribal leaders will be tried by a Taliban shura, or council, Taliban spokesman Mullah Omar told Dawn. "They would be punished for killing a Taliban “commander” so that no other tribe would dare to raise an anti-militant lashkar," the news agency reported.

The Taliban have targeted Bajaur tribes looking to back the government, even while the military is active in some of the regions. Scores of tribal leaders have been found murdered, some are found beheaded.

The Salarzai tribal in Bajaur has been hit hard over the past several months. Tribal leaders claim to have raised more than 10,000 fighters to form a lashkar, or tribal militia. The Salarzai have been burning the homes of Taliban members and providing security for the region.

Twenty-two members of the Salarzai tribe were killed, including the leader of the militia, and more than 45 were wounded after a suicide bomber detonated in the middle of a tribal meeting on Nov. 6.

The Pakistani military has been battling the Taliban in Bajaur since August. The tribal area is a known command and control hub for al Qaeda's operations in northeastern Afghanistan. The military has relied on airstrikes and artillery barrages to dislodge the Taliban from fortified positions.

Pakistan's counterinsurgency plan alienates the tribes

Pakistan's strategy to counter the Taliban with tribal fighters is flawed in several ways, several US military and intelligence official who wish to remain anonymous told The Long War Journal. The tribal groups are disorganized and often do not want to work in conjunction with the military. But even more troubling, the Pakistani military has forced many the tribes in Bajaur and elsewhere to turn on the Taliban.

"Some tribal leaders say they have little choice but to fight their brothers, cousins and neighbors," The Washington Post reported on Nov. 11 after touring the carnage in Bajaur. "The Pakistani military, they say, has threatened to bomb their villages if they do not battle the Taliban." The Pakistani military has followed through on these threats on several occasions.

These ultimatums to the tribes have occurred beyond Bajaur. In Khyber, the military "sent a notice to local tribal elders in Jamrud warning that in case of a failure to expel Taliban from their areas, they would have to face the consequences under the FCR [Frontier Crimes Regulations]," Daily Times reported. The Frontier Crimes Regulations is a set of antiquated laws dating back to 1848 that govern Pakistan’s tribal areas. The law allows the military to practice collective punishment on the tribes if they fail to live up to agreements.

The military has also threatened to destroy homes of the tribes in the Mohmand tribal agency if they fail to expel the Taliban. "We warn the Mohmand tribes to sever ties with Tehreek-e-Taliban’s Abdul Wali group as the government is planning action against the group," the Mohmand Agency administration warned the population in pamphlets, according to a report in Daily Times. "Get all elements of Abdul Wali group out of your homes, otherwise they will be targeted by helicopters and jet bombers."

US officials interviewed by The Long War Journal say that Pakistan's counterinsurgency strategy is a recipe for disaster. "Pakistan's practice of compelling the tribes is counter to the successful Awakening movement in Iraq which rose up to fight al Qaeda in Anbar province on their own accord," a senior US military officer said. "An "awakening" ultimately has to originate with the people, the tribes. In Pakistan, most of the tribes are ambivalent or supportive to the Taliban, and are hostile to the government."

Compelling the tribes to fight may actually sabotage Pakistan’s attempts to defeat the Taliban. "Tribal leaders are furious at having their homes leveled in airstrike and massive artillery barrages," a senior US official said.

"This strategy of compelling the tribes to fight against their will, at gunpoint, may show -- and in Afghanistan has -- some short term gains with denying al Qaeda safe havens and keeping them on the run," the official said. Attacks in Afghanistan’s neighboring province of Kunar are down significantly as US and Pakistani forces are coordinating operations to tackle Taliban and al Qaeda fighters transiting the Kunar-Bajaur border region.

"But in the long run, Pakistan is alienating the people they are supposed to be protecting. Unless Pakistan is willing to conduct a ruthless, protracted campaign against its own people, like the Russians did in Chechnya, destroying everything and everyone in its path, this will fail," the official said. "And I see no indication Pakistan has the political will to go the way of the Russians in Chechnya."

US military officers are stunned at the lack of understanding of counterinsurgency in the Pakistani military after seven years of fighting in the tribal areas. “[The Pakistanis] have learned nothing. They need to turn this around, and fast,” a US military officer who was involved with the formation of the Iraqi Awakening said. The officer was concerned these actions would cause the tribes to turn on the government in the long run.

“The potential for blowback in the tribal areas and beyond is enormous,” said the officer. “We could never have made the Anbar tribes to fight al Qaeda. It was never about guns, money, or power. The Anbar tribes fought for survival. The Pakistani tribes will fight for survival too, but in this case, they likely will see the government as the oppressor.”