Terrorist Ringleader Dies in Latest Airstrike Inside Pakistan

This guy was even in custody and the Pakistanis let him slip through their grasp. He was responsible for coming up with the idea of the liquid explosives bombs that required the TSA to confiscate any liquid items brought on board aircraft that were more than a few ounces.

Rashid Rauf, a British Islamist militant with links to al-Qaida, was among five victims of an attack launched by a suspected U.S. pilotless drone aircraft in the North Waziristan tribal region.

Intelligence officers in the region, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Rauf, who escaped from custody outside an Islamabad court last December, had been killed. However, there was no official confirmation.

Rauf was the suspected ringleader of a 2006 plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners using liquid explosives.

The plot, which was uncovered with the help of Pakistani intelligence, had the potential to kill on the scale of the Sept. 11, 2001 al-Qaida attacks. It resulted in tighter controls on cabin luggage hand-carried on board by air passengers worldwide.

US airstrikes inside Pakistan have been coming with a regularity that we haven't seen before - and the targets keep piling up. The US must be obtaining serious and timely intel in a way that they haven't had before. It is highly suggestive that they've got people feeding them intel deep inside the tribal regions of Waziristan and the NWFP, and while the official Pakistani reaction is one to decry the attacks, the government has to be happy that the US is taking care of the Islamist problems for them. The al Qaeda and Taliban threat is one that threatens to destabilize not only Afghanistan, but Pakistan's government as well, and the assistance in tracking down the al Qaeda scurrying about in the tribal regions is likely part of a quid pro quo to help stabilize the situation.

It's also important to note that any time you hear reports out of Pakistan that foreigners were killed in these airstrikes, it means that they're specifically referring to al Qaeda and Islamists who are not indigenous to Pakistan. Long War Journal also has the following background:

Rauf, along with senior al Qaeda leader Matiur Rehman, were the architects of the failed 2006 London airline plot. Al Qaeda intended to destroy a dozen aircraft en route to the United States from London. Rehman is a senior al Qaeda leader who is known to manage the "jihadi rolodex," the list of the tens of thousands of operatives who passed through terror training camps.

Rauf was captured by Pakistani security forces in August 2006 escaped from Pakistani custody under dubious circumstances on Dec. 15, 2007. Police escorts claim Rauf broke free of his handcuffs as he was visiting a mosque while being transported from a court appearance in Islamabad to a jail in Rawalpindi. Rauf's uncle convinced police to transport him in a van and drove it himself. Several police were charged with being complicit in Rauf's escape.

Meanwhile, the latest news from Iraq isn't good for al Qaeda either, as their thugs continue to get sent packing in body bags.