Abdul Aziz bin Attash
Abu al Bara'a Abdul Aziz bin Attash was a citizen of Yemen who was killed by Ethiopian forces in wartorn Somalia in December 2011.[1][2] He has been described as a militant jihadist.
Two of his brothers were captured by the CIA in 2002, and were held in the CIA's network of clandestine network of interrogation centres.[2] Thomas Joscelyn, writing in The Long War Journal, reports that of his nine brothers, at least four others were also militant jihadists, the two in US custody, Walid bin Attash and Hassan bin Attash, and two who died in Afghanistan, Hussam bin Attash and Husayn bin Attash. Quoting a formerly secret Joint Task Force Guantanamo assessment, Josceylyn said Hussam was killed in 1997 and Husayn was killed "after the September 11 attacks."
Josceylyn reports that Abdul Aziz trained with his brother Hassan, at the Khalden training camp, in eastern Afghanistan in 1997, while they were both teenagers.[2] They received small arms training there. Josceylyn calls the Khaldan camp an "al Qaeda camp", while other commentators, like Andy Worthington, the author of The Guantanamo Files, assert it was an independent training camp, and a rival to al Qaeda's camps.
Josceyln reports the boys later attended the Jihad Wahl Camp in Khowst, which he also called an al Qaeda camp, where they received training in explosives.[2]
According to Josceyln the boys were later to serve as Osama bin Laden bodyguards in Osama bin Laden's security detail.[2]
While Walid, Husayn and Hassan remained in Afghanistan, Abdul Aziz returned to Yemen.[2] He was imprisoned there for several years. After his release he married and immigrated to Somalia. Josceylyn does not report Abdul Aziz engaging in any specific jihadist activity in Somalia.
In 2014 Brian Mizer, lawyer for Walid bin Attash, voiced incredulity in a pre-trial hearing over the DoD claim they did not know how Abdul Aziz was killed.[3]
References
- ↑ Anna Mahjar-Barducci (2012-02-10). "Al-Qaeda Takes Over East Africa". Gatestone Institute. https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/2835/al-qaeda-east-africa. Retrieved 2019-08-09. "Despite the warning, media reported in December that Ethiopian troops in Somalia killed a member of a notorious Yemeni Al-Qaeda-linked family, Abu Al-Baraa Abdul Aziz bin Attash. In January, Al-Shabab, in return, killed 33 Ethiopian soldiers, during a suicide attack on a Somali army base."
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Thomas Joscelyn (2011-12-30). "Son of infamous al Qaeda family killed by Ethiopian forces". Long War Journal. Archived from the original on 2012-08-27. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.longwarjournal.org%2Farchives%2F2011%2F12%2Fson_of_infamous_al_q.php&date=2012-08-27. Retrieved 2012-08-27. "Abu al Bara'a was one of 10 sons in the bin Attash family, at least five of whom served al Qaeda, the Taliban, and their allies."
- ↑ Matt Danzer (2014-04-23). "4/23 Motion Hearings #3: Discovery, Discovery, Discovery". Lawfare. https://www.lawfareblog.com/423-motion-hearings-3-discovery-discovery-discovery. Retrieved 2019-08-09. "The court returns from recess to consider two defense discovery motions, AE224, seeking information surrounding the facts and circumstances of the death of Abdul Aziz Bin Attash, and AE225, requesting files on the Kuwaiti prosecution of four individuals in 2005 for the attacks on the Lumburg and U.S.S. Cole."
