Al Qaeda releases video of killing of five US ‘spies’

* ‘Spy’ says they were paid heavily to help US locate senior Al Qaeda leader

Staff Report

PESHAWAR: A video released by Al Qaeda’s media cell in North Waziristan has shown five alleged spies confessing their involvement in a US drone attack early this year in which a senior Qaeda leader was reported killed.

A tribal source who watched the video told Daily Times on Friday by phone from North Waziristan that the video had been released on October 26 and showed Pashto-speaking ‘spies’ narrating how they helped the US kill Abu Laith al Libi in a drone attack on January 29 near Mir Ali town. “The video just contained the confession statements of the five men -- an Afghan army soldier and four alleged Pakistani troops -- and shots of a place hit by an unmanned US spy plane,” the source said requesting anonymity. In the video, the men said they were tasked to locate Abu Laith and place what they called a ‘small (electronic) chip’ at a place where the wanted Al Qaeda leader lived. Security officials said the chip helped the drone locate the target.

Paid: “We were paid heavily for executing the mission. The place was attacked 11 minutes after the chip was left there,” said one of the alleged spies who along with the other four was killed. The source said he did not know when the ‘spies’ were captured and if they were telling the truth in the video. The ‘spies’ were reported killed, the source said, adding the video was released a day after the killings.

The four Pakistani nationals said in their statements that they served the army and paramilitary forces. In the video, one of them said: “I am surprised how they knew I helped the attack.” Security experts said the release of such a video by Al Qaeda and Taliban aimed at “spreading a wave of terror among the local people to keep them from helping the government” locate wanted terrorists in the Tribal Areas.