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Articles written by Matt Apuzzo


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  • US: CIA thwarts new al-Qaida underwear bomb plot

    ADAM GOLDMAN, MATT APUZZO, Associated Press

    WASHINGTON — The CIA thwarted an ambitious plot by al-Qaida's affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb with a sophisticated new design around the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden, The Associated Press has learned. The plot involved an upgrade of the underwear bomb that failed to detonate aboard a jetliner over Detroit on Christmas 2009. This new bomb was also designed to be used in a passenger's underwear, but this time al-Qaida developed a more refined detonation system, U.S. o...

  • U.S. officials: US attack in Yemen kills al-Awlaki

    KIMBERLY DOZIER, MATT APUZZO - Associated Press

    WASHINGTON — An American-born cleric killed in Yemen played a "significant operational role" in plotting and inspiring attacks on the United States, U.S. officials said Friday, as they disclosed detailed intelligence to justify the killing of a U.S. citizen. Anwar al-Awlaki was killed early Friday in a strike on his convoy carried out by a joint operation of the CIA and the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command, according to counterterrorism officials. Al-Awlaki had been under observations for three weeks while they waited f...

  • U.S. official: Al-Qaida's No. 2 killed in Pakistan

    MATT APUZZO, Associated Press

    WASHINGTON — Al-Qaida's second-in-command, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, has been killed in Pakistan, delivering another big blow to a terrorist group that the U.S. believes to be on the verge of defeat, U.S. officials said Saturday. The Libyan national had been the network's operational leader before rising to al-Qaida's No. 2 spot after the U.S. killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden during a raid on his Pakistan compound in May. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said last month that al-Qaida's defeat was within reach if the U.S. c...

  • Terror plot thwarted as US-bound explosives seized

    EILEEN SULLIVAN and MATT APUZZO Associated Press

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities on three continents thwarted multiple terrorist attacks aimed at the United States from Yemen on Friday, seizing two explosive packages addressed to Chicago-area synagogues and packed aboard cargo jets. The plot triggered worldwide fears that al-Qaida was launching a major new terror campaign. President Barack Obama called the coordinated attacks a "credible terrorist threat," and U.S. officials said they were increasingly confident that al-Qaida's Yemen branch, the group responsible for the f...