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Tawfiq bin Attash

Al-Qaeda Terrorist Operations Planner

Details
	Importance	Very High
	Location of Detention	U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba1
	Date of Capture	April 29, 2003
	Location of Capture	Karachi, Pakistan
	Affiliation	Al-Qaeda
	Role	Terrorist Operations Planner
	Supervisor	Osama bin Laden
	Full Given Name	Tawfiq Muhammed Salah Bin Roshayd Bin Attash
	Nationality	Yemeni1
	Nationality	Saudi1
	Alias(es)	Khallad, Walid Attash, Salah Said1, Saeed Mohammed bin Yousaf, Silver1, Khallad bin Attash1, Walid bin Attash1, Salahsae1
	Alternate Spelling(s)	Tafiq bin Attash
	Date of Birth	19791
	Place of Birth	Saudi Arabia1
	Gender	Male
	Injuries/Illness	Lost some of his right leg in a battlefield accident in Afghanistan in 1997.1
	History	Attended training camp in postwar Afghanistan (1990-2001)
Narrative and Notes
	Reliable	Key operative involved in the USS Cole bombing and 9-11. A CIA counterterrorism officer described him as a "major-league killer." He volunteered as a suicide bomber and was assigned to join the 9-11 hijackers. He was unable to obtain a U.S. visa. Much of his family is involved with al-Qaeda and terrorism. He first came to Afghanistan to fight in 1994, at the age of 15. One of his brothers was killed fighting there. Khallad served as a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden and a line fighter against the Northern Alliance before joining al-Qaeda's operational ranks in 1998. Served as communications link between al-Qaeda's leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan and operatives in the Persian Gulf. In 2001, the CIA and FBI had some information on him and his connection to the Cole bombing and the Kuala Lumpur meeting, which also included two future 9-11 hijackers.1,2,3
Sources
1 'Detainee Biographies,' press release, Director of National Intelligence, Sept. 6, 2006.
2 The 9-11 Commission Final Report. July 22, 2004. Chapter 5.2.
3 The 9-11 Commission Final Report, July 22, 2004, Chapter 8.2.
Photo: GlobalSecurity.org archive
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