Η επιχείρηση που σκότωσε τον ηγέτη της al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri με ένα χτύπημα drone σε μια πολυτελή γειτονιά της Kabul ήταν εν μέρει έργο μιας αμερικανικής στρατιωτικής μονάδας τόσο μυστικής που το πραγματικό της όνομα είναι κρατικό μυστικό, according with three NATO officials briefed on the operation.
"It was a huge operation led by the CIA, and as is usually the case with this sort of thing, everyone has a role to play," said a senior NATO military official who works closely with the US on counterterrorism.
"But at the top of the business are the people who have to really look at the target and that's where [Task Force] Orange comes in."
Established in 1980 and originally called the Intelligence Support Activity before its name became secret and began to change frequently, the unit works within the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and is tasked with gathering real-time intelligence for the preparation of special planned operations. The unit is currently known as Task Force Orange.
"The CIA can tell you a lot about a country, its government and opposition figures, but it's not designed to know that a certain person is in a certain house, which way the doors open, how high the fences are," said the NATO official, who was not authorized to speak publicly.
“Αυτό κάνει η Orange για να προετοιμαστεί για μια επιχείρηση, είτε πρόκειται για επίθεση με drone όπως με τον Zawahri είτε για αποστολή μιας ομάδας σκοπευτών όπως με τον Osama bin Laden ή τον Baghdadi. Συλλέγουν τις συγκεκριμένες λεπτομέρειες και το κάνουν αυτοπροσώπως από κοντά, σαν τον Jason Bourne”.
Η ανακοίνωση της δολοφονίας ανέφερε ότι οι αμερικανικές μυστικές υπηρεσίες παρατήρησαν την οικογένεια του Zawahri να μετακομίζει στην Kabul τον Απρίλιο του τρέχοντος έτους. Οι φήμες ότι οι Αμερικανοί ενημερώθηκαν από τους Taliban ή την ισχυρή φατρία Haqqani σαν μέρος κάποιας μυστικής συμφωνίας.
"That's where it gets complicated, to be honest," said an intelligence official from an EU country who declined to be named.
“The US controls a lot of the money the Taliban need to run the country and while I'm sure Zawahri had his supporters, it only takes one person to decide he wants the $25 million in handouts. So it could have been a move by the Taliban, but the Americans have left behind a very powerful intelligence apparatus."
"If it was treason, the operation should have been done in the normal way, meaning in April, when the family moved in, Orange and the CIA would be in the neighborhood."
The family would be closely monitored by any electronic device, although Zawahri would not allow any device near him, because he would have been killed years ago. They would watch closely to determine how many people live in the house, collect DNA evidence, purchases made from local markets, and generally anything that might be useful to get a picture of life inside the house.
"Then Zawahiri himself appears and it becomes a question of how to kill him without killing anyone else," the first official said. "Orange and the CIA staff were watching to see if he left the house, which he didn't, but they noticed him going out on his balcony every morning for a few hours."
So using a drone missile without explosives but with sword-like blades to prevent collateral damage, at 6:18 am. on Saturday July 30, they succeeded in taking Zawahiri's life.
