January 14th - In February 2012, a German Jihadist by the name of Patrick N. was killed by a drone in Waziristan according to a two-part audio message issued by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). The news was first reported on Sunday; I have now had a chance to take a look at the message and to speak to a few people about it.
First of all, there is little reason to dispute the basic facts presented by German IMU member and unofficial spokesman "Abu Adam". Patrick N. travelled to Pakistan with his wife and two children in October of 2011. There is older footage in IMU tapes in which he is shown smiling and suggesting that other German Muslims follow his example. He says he was about to depart for training camp next, so this footage seems to have been recorded fairly early after his arrival. Three months later he was dead. According to "Abu Adam", he was killed in a drone strike that, he maintains, killed ten other people from different nations alongside Patrick N.
According to the IMU message N. grew up in a children's home after the death of his mother and his grandparents. He is said to have converted in Islam at the age of 14 in 2001.
N. would be the 5th German drone victim so far.
By now it also transpired that N. was arrested briefly by the German police (and let go without any charges) very shortly before he left for Pakistan.
What remains unclear at this time is who else was killed in said drone strike and what, if any, "high value targets" were among those targeted. Patrick N. is unlikely to have been such a HVT, firstly given his arrival only three months prior and secondly given the IMU's assurances that he never took part in any actual fighting.
More as or rather if more news trickle in.
First of all, there is little reason to dispute the basic facts presented by German IMU member and unofficial spokesman "Abu Adam". Patrick N. travelled to Pakistan with his wife and two children in October of 2011. There is older footage in IMU tapes in which he is shown smiling and suggesting that other German Muslims follow his example. He says he was about to depart for training camp next, so this footage seems to have been recorded fairly early after his arrival. Three months later he was dead. According to "Abu Adam", he was killed in a drone strike that, he maintains, killed ten other people from different nations alongside Patrick N.
According to the IMU message N. grew up in a children's home after the death of his mother and his grandparents. He is said to have converted in Islam at the age of 14 in 2001.
N. would be the 5th German drone victim so far.
By now it also transpired that N. was arrested briefly by the German police (and let go without any charges) very shortly before he left for Pakistan.
What remains unclear at this time is who else was killed in said drone strike and what, if any, "high value targets" were among those targeted. Patrick N. is unlikely to have been such a HVT, firstly given his arrival only three months prior and secondly given the IMU's assurances that he never took part in any actual fighting.
More as or rather if more news trickle in.
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