SAS Hunt White Widow
10.12.2012
The SAS have joined the hunt for the most wanted female fugitive on the planet, the Mirror has reported(1).
Samantha Lewthwaite, dubbed the 'white widow' is a radicalized British woman who fled the UK after her husband, Jermaine Lindsay, took part in the 7/7 bombings in London, July 2005. In hiding ever since, Lewthwaite is believed to have been behind a grenade attack in a Kenyan Bar in Mombasa, 2012, which killed 3 and injured 25. She is also believed to be a financier for Al-Qaeda and involved in terror training camps located in Somalia.
The Mirror claims that members of D Squadron, 22 SAS - who have been deployed in recent months to Kenya and are working with U.S. and Kenyan special forces on counter terrorism operations in the region - are now on Lewthwaite's trail. They are said to be part of Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), a US-led counter terrorism effort aimed at targeting Al-Qaeda and its affiliates in Somalia, Sudan and other African countries. It's been reported elsewhere that SAS/SBS forces have been stationed with the task force in recent times. (2)
The Mirror reports that the SAS are now closing in on Lewthwaite following recent arrests of 4 female jihadists who were believed to be her close associates.
more info / further reading:
- 1. Hunt for the 7/7 White Widow: SAS join search for Samantha Lewthwaite
(the mirror)
- 2. RAF could give support in Somalia intervention
(the independent - report from last year which mentions SAS/SBS in CJTF-HOA)
