Saleh al-Somali

{{Short description|Somalian terrorist}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}

{{infobox person

| name = Saleh al-Somali

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date =

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{death date|2009|12|08|df=y}}

| death_place = Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

| nationality = Somali

| other_names =

| known_for = Killed by a missile strike

| occupation = Alleged al Qaida operational planner

}}

Saleh al-Somali, born Abdirizaq Abdi Saleh, was described as being an al-Qaeda leader and the group's head of external operations.

{{cite news

|url = https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna34383765

|title = Source: Senior al-Qaida leader killed by drone: Militant was head of external operations, official tells NBC News

|publisher = NBC News

|date = 25 September 2006

|quote = Abdirizaq Abdi Saleh, better known by his nom de guerre Saleh al-Somali, was a member of al-Qaida's senior leadership, said the official, and "probably responsible" for planning and executing attacks in the U.S. and Europe.

}}

{{cite news

|url = https://abcnews.go.com/International/Terrorism/al-qaeda-operations-planner-saleh-al-somali-believed/story?id=9314585

|title = Al Qaeda Operations Planner Saleh al-Somali Believed Dead in Drone Strike: Believed Killed Tuesday Along Lawless Tribal Areas of Western Pakistan

|publisher = ABC News

|date = 11 December 2009

|author = Luis Martinez, Martha Raddatz

|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20100201181349/http://abcnews.go.com/International/Terrorism/al-qaeda-operations-planner-saleh-al-somali-believed/story?id=9314585

|archivedate = 1 February 2010

|quote = The senior al Qaeda operative killed in a drone strike in Pakistan earlier this week was Saleh al-Somali, a major operations planner for the terrorist group, ABC News has learned.

|url-status = dead

}}

{{cite news

|url = https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g6KkslX8iLPH1UZnvja-rZVQAF4gD9DQMEO00

|title = Evolving US strategy widens assault on terrorists

|publisher = Associated Press

|date = 12 February 2010

|author = Matt Apuzzo

|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20100217040657/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g6KkslX8iLPH1UZnvja-rZVQAF4gD9DQMEO00

|archivedate = 17 February 2010

|quote = Senior al-Qaida operatives Saleh al-Somali and Abdallah Sa'id were killed in airstrikes in December.

|url-status = dead

}}

{{cite news

|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/16/AR2010021605043.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

|title = What the partisan squabbles miss on Obama's terror response

|newspaper = Washington Post

|date = 17 February 2010

|author = David Ignatius

|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20121110035629/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/16/AR2010021605043.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

|archivedate = 10 November 2012

|quote = These raids have ravaged the top tier of al-Qaeda's lieutenants. The victims include Saleh al-Somali, the chief of external operations, who was killed Dec. 8; Abdullah Said al-Libi, the chief of operations in Pakistan, who was killed Dec. 17; and Tahir Yuldashev, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, who was killed in August.

|url-status = dead

}}

He was killed by a missile fired from an unmanned predator drone on 8 December 2009.

The missile strike was on a suspect compound in Janikhel village near Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, today a part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Initially the identity of the senior al Qaida leader reported killed was not made public. But on 11 December 2009 ABC News quoted a US security official who said: "There are strong indications that senior al Qaeda operations planner Saleh al-Somali has been killed".{{Cite web |title=Al Qaeda Operations Planner Saleh Al-Somali Believed Dead in Drone Strike |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/Terrorism/al-qaeda-operations-planner-saleh-al-somali-believed/story?id=9314585 |access-date=2022-10-15 |website=ABC News |language=en}}