Current Affairs

Map of Wana / Laman Pakistan region where Osama bin Laden heir apparent Ilyas Kashmiri was killed in a drone attack (map, kmz)

June 5, 2011 Sorin Adam Matei

Ilyaas Kashmiri, a Pakistani terrorist at times associated with the Pakistani secret services was killed in a drone attack in the tribal region (South Waziristan Agency area) of Pakistan. It is quite possible the he was turned in by his former handlers as a sign of goodwill after Osama bin Laden was discovered in the heart of Pakistan, hiding in a major garrison town. The ISI was suspected of having turned a blind eye to Osama bin Laden’s presence in Pakistan.

Ilyas Kashmiri, Pakistani terrorist killed by US drones

Ilyas Kashmiri

Kashmiri was a prominent and charismatic Al Qaeda leader. He participated in the early Afghan war and brought to terror actions a military approach.

The location of his death is a desolate area of Pakistan, with poor roads and forbidding climate and landscape. Some call it the “Ghwakhwa” region.

Presumptive location of the village where Ilyas Kashmiri was killed, 10 km W of Wana, in the South Waziristan Agency area.

Sorin Adam Matei

Assistant Vice President for Partnerships in Strategic Defense Innnovation and Professor of Communication at Purdue University, Director of the FORCES initiative leads research teams that study the relationship between technological and social systems using big data, simulation, and mapping approaches. He published papers and articles in Journal of Communication, Communication Research, Information Society, National Interest, and Foreign Policy. He is the author or co-editor of several books. The most recent is Structural differentation in social media. He also co-edited Ethical Reasoning in Big Data,Transparency in social media and Roles, Trust, and Reputation in Social Media Knowledge Markets: Theory and Methods (Computational Social Sciences) , all three the product of the NSF funded KredibleNet project. Dr. Matei's teaching portfolio includes technology and strategy, online interaction, and digital media analytics classes. A former BBC World Service journalist, his contributions have been published in Esquire and several leading Romanian newspapers. In Romania, he is known for his books Boierii Mintii (The Mind Boyars), Idolii forului (Idols of the forum), and Idei de schimb (Spare ideas).