George Little, Defense Department Press Secretary Holds a Defense Department Regular News Briefing
Political Transcript Wire › July 05, 2012
Linked as:
Extract
George Little, Defense Department Press Secretary Holds a Defense Department Regular News Briefing
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT REGULAR NEWS BRIEFING
MAY 29, 2012SPEAKER: GEORGE LITTLE, DEFENSE DEPARTMENT PRESS SECRETARY[*] LITTLE: Good afternoon and happy Tuesday. It's good to see everyone today, and I hope that you all had a restful and relaxing Memorial Day weekend. As much of the nation took a break to honor America's fallen heroes, our servicemembers fighting in Afghanistan maintain their focus and the relentless pace of operations. As a result of their efforts, alongside their coalition counterparts, they achieved a significant operational success in Kunar province on Sunday with the death of Sakhr al-Taifi, who was Al Qaida's second-highest leader in Afghanistan.Sakhr al-Taifi was responsible for commanding foreign insurgents and directing attacks against coalition and Afghan forces. He frequently traveled between Afghanistan and Pakistan, carrying out commands from senior Al Qaida leadership. He also supplied weapons and equipment to insurgents in the east and managed transport of insurgent fighters into Afghanistan.After identifying al-Taifi and additional Al Qaida terrorists, and taking careful steps to ensure no civilians were in the area, our forces engaged the targets with a precision air strike. A follow-on assessment determined no civilians were harmed in this operation.This operation is another example of our ongoing efforts to degrade and weaken Al Qaida's leadership and a reminder of ...See the full content of this document
