Thread by @bott_sebastian

Today 18 year's ago Ahmed Shah Massoud was killed by an al-Qa'ida hit team (which included two suicide bombers who lived a extended period of time in Europe/🇧🇪)

In its effects, this assassination was probably the most significant terror attack ever with reference 2 Belgium (@GuyVanVlierden) and I think the Belgium cluster cell behind the two suicide bombers R a nice example 2 demonstrate similarities and differences of extremism then&now

In face of peace deals or no peace deals with the Taliban, it's also worthwhile to re-read this: rferl.org/a/ahmad_shah_m…

washingtonpost.com/world/the-lion…

I personally think it is a strange coincidence that also the another big al-Qa'ida attempt on a 🇦🇫 Afghan political leader is connected to a European attacker (it's probably also the first Al-Qa'ida attack in the Western world btw.)

telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews…

Last but not least, I would love to know more about about the potentially connections between the murder of Ahmed Shah Massoud and what was to follow two days later

Of course it is temping 2 conclude that the assassination of Ahmed Shah Massoud was 1 piece of the overall attack & aimed 2 take an important Anti-Taliban player of the table, however there R also indications both attacks were not that closely connected & the timing coincidence

If one assumes that the Massoud assassination is part of the plot it leads logically to another attack

nytimes.com/2001/12/14/wor…

In Dec. 2001 saw the last days of fighting at Tora Bora and the attack on the Indian Parliament caused so much tensions that Pakistani troops were shifted from NWFP/FATA towards the east...

In other words, the attack might have been part of "a get-away plan" ...

Interestingly, the attack on Indian Parliament in December 2001 was at least in part coordinated and with Amjad Farooqi, who was a close associate of KSM.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asi…

Farooqi was also linked to the murder of Daniel Pearl and other strategically minded plots

All in all, I think this small thread shows one thing: an ability and will for strategic and complex planning however unrealistically it may be or seems to be...(the assassination of Massoud and the attack on the Indian Parliament were successful operationally)

And this way of planning, having a aim, doing staging an attack at the right time aso.

This is a very significant difference between Al-Qa'ida and the Islamic State...

It is almost impossible to tell why attack France 🇫🇷 - Germany 🇩🇪 (and not some other match) or...

Why to attack the Bataclan/Eagles of Death metal and not another target with some connection to the Jewish community