With the killing of Abu Laith al-Libi this week, the Taliban have suffered their biggest loss since being ousted from power in 2001, and they are left without their finest military brain just two months before their spring offensive. All the same, while there will undoubtedly be a short-term negative effect over the loss of the talisman commander, the Taliban have a groundswell of support in place that is unlikely to be affected in the longer term. According to reports, Libi, 41, a Libyan, was killed on Monday in an attack by a US Predator drone in Mir Ali, a town in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal area near the border with Afghanistan.
The US military placed Libi on its most wanted list in 2006, behind al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri and Taliban leader Mullah Omar. Libi had a reward of US$200,000 on his head following his involvement in the February 2007 bombing at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan during a visit by US Vice President Dick Cheney.