US, Pakistani efforts degraded al Qaeda, says White House

As a result of US and Pakistani efforts al Qaeda has been "significantly" degraded in the tribal regions along Pak-Afghan border, White House Chief Counteretrrorism Adviser John Brennan said, while recognising the importance of Islamabad's recent arrest of operatives belonging to the militant organisation.
The US, he said, cannot relent in its counterterrorism efforts ten years after 9/11 terrorist attacks. His remarks in an interview also confirmed the death of al Qaeda operational commander Ilyas Kashmiri, who was reportedly killed in a drone strike.
"Al Qaida core, which is the senior leadership, which is in the FATA area of Pakistan, which really has taken it on the chin significantly as a result of our and Pakistani efforts. That has been degraded significantly over the past couple of years," Brennan told News Hour on Public Broadcasting Service channel.
The elimination of Osama bin Laden and other senior operatives as well as capture of Younis al-Mauritani by Pakistan has dealt a serious blow to al Qaeda organisation, said Brennan, who is deputy national security adviser. "I think bin Laden's death as well as the death of other senior operational commanders - Ilyas Kashmiri, who was responsible for putting together plans to attack Europe and the US; Atiyah Abd al-Rahman; there is the arrest that the Pakistanis carried out recently of Younis al Mauritani - these are individuals that were determined to carry out an attack against Western interests, including in the homeland here.
Taking them off of the battlefield, capture, and their deaths, has really set al Qaida core - the senior leadership of al Qaida in Pakistan - back significantly." However, al Qaeda militants operating elsewhere pose a big terrorist threat, he cautioned.
"But you have other al Qaeda elements: Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is mainly in Yemen right now; you have al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which is the Sahel area of Africa; al Qaeda in Iraq. And so these franchises are active. They're carrying out attacks against locals - the Yemenis, you know, the Iraqis and others.
And, also, there are elements that are trying to carry out attacks against us - American interests in those countries as well as to try to do things in the homeland here. "So those franchises are active and to - we have al Qaeda core on the ropes, but that doesn't mean that these other elements are not able and determined to carry out an attack. And - you know, we - yes, we are concerned about what they might try to do."
Brennan felt that the phenomenon of terrorism that al Qaeda manifests and represents is going to be "a many-year" challenge. "So we cannot relent. We cannot, even with the death of bin Laden - and if we get (Ayman al-) Zawahiri and others, that is not reason for us to relax."
"They're murderers, and we need to do everything possible to eliminate the threat that they pose to us, but also work with the countries overseas to make sure that they build the institutions as well as provide for their people, you know, the opportunities that will make the terrorists' ideology blatantly bankrupt," added the senior national security adviser.