Ibrahim al-Asiri, Anwar al-Awaki, and Samer Khan

US intelligence officers announced late Friday that the drone strike that killed Anwar al-Awlaki and Samer Khan in the mountains of Yemen yesterday, also killed Ibrahim al-Asiri, the master bomb-maker who is considered responsible for the bombs that Abdulmutallab wore in his underpants, and the printer cartridge bombs that were intended to blow up two UPS cargo planes in mid-air.

Ibrahim al-Asiri was considered the top explosives expert for al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and is the third, high-value al Qaeda operative killed in yesterday’s strike. Although he was not well-known to the public, he was certainly known to intelligence authorities. His ruthlessness was legendary. Two years ago, al-Asiri is thought to have attempted to kill Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, by turning his younger brother, Abdullah, into a suicide bomber. The bomber was killed, but the Prince escaped. In fact, although his bombs were often ingenious, none of them were known to have been successful in accomplishing the mission.

While al-Awlaki was responsible for external operations for the al-Qaeda franchise, and Samir Khan was co-editor of English-language al-Qaeda online magazine Inspire, al-Asiri was responsible for designing and deploying the bombs that would be the instruments of destruction for AQAP.

The loss of the three men represents an enormous accomplishment in the neutralizing of AQAP’s terrorist capabilities. Considered one of the most powerful of the al-Qaeda franchises around the world, al-Awlaki was considered a possible future heir to bin Laden’s leadership of the entire organization.

The Lone Wolf Terrorist Although AQAP sponsored terrorist operations of its own, it also fostered the idea of do-it-yourself terrorism, which it promoted through its on-line, English magazine. In the May issue of Foreign Policy, Christopher Boucek, an expert on Yemen and al-Qaida, assessed this threat: “The most omnipresent terrorist threat the United States faces today is the opportunistic attacks that are either homegrown or stem from weak or failing states, not the spectacular attacks that take months of preparation. A catastrophic attack — while still the intention of al Qaeda’s core — is much less likely than smaller operations that are harder to pre-emptively detect. And those are the kind of attacks Awlaki has the power to inspire.”

The strike occurred five miles from the town of Khashef in Yemen’s northern Jawf province, 87 miles east of the capital Sanaa. The Hellfire missiles hit a vehicle containing three or four suspected members of AQAP. In traveling together, the three broke one of the first rules of organizational security: never have the leadership all traveling together. The fact that al-Awlaki allowed this arrangement showed how arrogantly certain he was that the US could not find him and how firm was his belief that his faith would protect him from harm. He had recently taunted the US about their failure to kill him in two previous attempts.

Details of the attack Officials disclosed today that the drones that killed Awlaki were operated by the same Joint Special Operations Command that carried out the operation to kill Osama bin Laden. According to the NY Post:

“A tribal official told The Washington Post that Awlaki had just eaten breakfast and that his lieutenants had left their house for their cars located about 700 yards away. Suddenly, they heard a Predator flying overhead that fired a 100-pound Hellfire missile. It killed some of Awlaki’s party. Awlaki raced to a Toyota Hilux pickup. That’s when a second Hellfire from a second drone exploded, tearing his body to pieces, according to Khamis bin Arfaaj, whose brother Salem had been living with Awlaki and also died.”

Final Words The last issue of Inspire magazine, which appeared last week in time to celebrate the tenth anniversary of 9/11, carried the announcement of a future “do it yourself” article by al-Awlaki called “Targeting the Populations of Countries That are at War with the Muslims”. Inspire is the brainchild of both al-Awlaki and Khan, that carried such ‘how-to’ articles as “Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom”, “Destroying Buildings”, and “Individual Terrorist Jihad”, as well as a series telling acolytes “What to Expect in Jihad?”.

Although al-Awlaki, the first American to be placed on the CIA’s ”kill or capture” list, was the primary target, the deaths of Khan and al-Asiri as well made this operation a highly important milestone in America’s fight against anti-US terrorism.

The individual importance of each of the three men was significant. But the combined loss to the organization of all three is likely to stunt future plans for some time, as the organization scrambles to regroup. Under the leadership of Yousif Saleh Fahd al-Ayayri, it is likely to take some time for this formerly powerful group to reconstitute itself after the loss of three of its top people.

The AQAP mission, however, will continue, if not immediately by the decimated organization, then by its loyal following. The killings are likely to spawn an angry response among those most influenced by AQAP’s mission. The lone-wolf, would-be terrorists in the US, who were the primary audience of Inspire, are likely to be motivated to strike out in reaction to the killings. Al-Awaki has already given them the tools.

Using the advice and inspiration of al-Awlaki and his team, aspiring young jihadis may take up his mission on their own, which was his plan. Although he won’t be able to plan the operations of the past, al-Awlaki’s legacy will continue to be a threat to the US for some time to come.