JEDDAH, 20 August 2005 — The killing of Saleh Al-Oufi, 39, leader of Al-Qaeda cell in Saudi Arabia, with three other terrorists including Majed ibn Hamid Al-Hasry in gunbattles with Saudi security forces, has dealt a heavy blow to the militant network in the Kingdom.
Al-Oufi, who was on a list of most wanted 26 terrorists published by the Interior Ministry last December, was shot dead by security forces in Madinah on Thursday in the largest such operation after the three-day Al-Rass shootout, which saw the killing of 15 terrorists.
In Madinah, armed confrontation between security forces and terrorists took place in seven places, which resulted in the killing of Al-Oufi and Muhammad ibn Abdullah Owaida and the arrest of 10 terror suspects.
An Interior Ministry official yesterday identified the terrorist killed in Riyadh shootout as Hasry, whose body, which was blown to pieces as a result of an explosion, was found by police during a mop-up operation. Hasry had figured on the second list of 36 terror suspects published by the ministry two months ago. The official said police had arrested a number of people in various parts of the country, having connections with the cell.
The death of Hasry, 29, brings down to 31 the number of militants on the list still at large. Moroccan Younus Mohammed Al-Hayari, who topped the list of 36, was shot dead during a battle with security forces in the capital on July 3.
One suspect on the list has been arrested, a second has turned himself in to authorities, and a Yemeni who figured on the list has been confirmed detained in Yemen. A number of militants on the list are reported to have died fighting alongside anti-US insurgents in Iraq, but this has not been officially confirmed.
In a press statement, Um Abdullah, the wife of Al-Oufi, said she was not at all interested to know whether her husband was dead or alive as his links to Al-Qaeda had caused a lot of trouble for her as well as her family.
Um Abdullah said her eldest daughter, 13-year-old Rawan, has been depressed after knowing about her father’s terrorist role. “I hope my children will have some kind of relief after hearing about the death of their father,” she added.
Saudi Arabia has been successful in its campaign against Al-Qaeda militants blamed on a series of terrorist attacks across the country since May 2003, claiming the lives of 90 civilians and 42 police officers apart from 113 suspected militants.
Only Abdullah Al-Rashoud and Taleb Al-Taleb from the December list of wanted terrorists remain at large while the majority on the second list is still on the run. There were reports that Rashoud had been killed in Iraq but not confirmed by Saudi authorities.
An Afghan war veteran, Al-Oufi had been on the run from security forces ever since his name appeared on the list, moving from one region to another. On July 20 last year, Al-Oufi reportedly took part in a gunbattle in a Riyadh neighborhood. He ran away from the place after leaving his wife and three children there. Police handed over his family to their relatives.
