Khalid Habib ( ar, خالد حبيب) (died October 16, 2008), born Shawqi Marzuq Abd al-Alam Dabbas ( ar, شوقي مرزوق عبد العليم دباس), was an ascending member of

al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

's central structure in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. His nationality was reported as Egyptian (by CBS News) and as Moroccan (by ''The New York Times''). Habib was the operations commander for the region. He was one of several al-Qaeda members who were more battle-hardened by combat experience in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Chechnya Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...

, and elsewhere. This experience rendered them more capable than their predecessors. According to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', this cadre was more radical than the previous generation of al-Qaeda leadership. The

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

described Habib as "one of the five or six most capable, most experienced terrorists in the world. In 2008, Habib relocated from Wana to Taparghai, Pakistan to avoid missile strikes launched from US-operated MQ-1 Predator aircraft which targeted al Qaeda and Taliban personnel. Khalid Habib was killed by a Predator strike near Taparghai on October 16, 2008. Habib was reportedly sitting in a Toyota station wagon which was struck by the missile. On October 28, militants confirmed to the Asia Times that Habib was killed in the

drone attack Drone warfare is a form of aerial warfare using unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The United States, United Kingdom, Israel, China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, France, India, Pakista ...

References

External links

Al-Qaeda's New Leadership
Year of birth missing 2008 deaths Assassinated al-Qaeda leaders Egyptian al-Qaeda members Moroccan al-Qaeda members Deaths by United States drone strikes in Pakistan Place of birth unknown Egyptian expatriates in Pakistan Moroccan expatriates in Pakistan {{crime-bio-stub