Media advisory: Killing of deputy degrades al-Qaida, researcher says

LAWRENCE — As the White House confirmed the death of al-Qaida's Arabian Peninsula deputy Nasir al-Wuhayshi in an airstrike in Yemen on Tuesday, national news reports have labeled it the most significant blow to the terrorist organization since the 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden.

A University of Kansas researcher is available to discuss implications of the deputy's death.

Don Haider-Markel, professor and chairman of the Department of Political Science, researches terrorism, public policy and American politics.

Q: Why would this be considered the most significant targeted killing of a terrorist group leader since bin Laden?

Haider-Markel: "It does degrade al-Qaida in terms of experienced planners for large operations. However, in the short term al-Qaida has little ability to project violence outside of Yemen, and they have plenty to deal with in Yemen at the moment. They could easily still support small-scale efforts like the French events in January, but that’s true with or without Nasir al-Wuhayshi."

Q: Secondly, does the emergence of the Islamic State, or ISIS, make this less significant?

Haider-Markel: "Al-Qaida is more focused on Western targets than is ISIS in the short term. However, this killing is significant in that as current al-Qaida leaders are killed, their replacements are somewhat more likely to plan and carry out small violent attacks that display their value as leaders and try to highlight the continued jihadist relevance of al-Qaida, and al-Qaida as ISIS has become more prominent. But the civil war in Yemen makes it difficult to direct resources elsewhere, so I wouldn’t expect any new attacks unless they already have some operatives in place."

For more information or to interview Haider-Markel, contact George Diepenbrock at gdiepenbrock@ku.edu or 785-864-8853.