Was Dark Prince, Ayatollah Mike, CIA Agent Behind Cmdr. Soleimani Assassination Killed in Afghanistan Plane Crash?
Independent Aggregator of Iran-related News/Events, Kodoom.com
Iranian news sources and Middle East Monitor have quoted Russian intelligence claiming Michael D’Andrea, head of CIA operations in Iran and who orchestrated the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, was killed in a Bombardier E-11A US spy plane downed on Monday in Ghazni, Afghanistan. D'Andrea also masterminded the murder of Imad Mughniyeh, former Hezbollah Chief of Staff, back in 2008.
(previously a wrong picture was posted here that belonged to a Canadian citizen whose image was mistakenly labeled in mass media)
Iranian news sources have published an image claiming to be that of D'Andrea, head of CIA operations in Iran. D’Andrea, reportedly a convert to Islam, doing so in order to marry his Muslim wife, was nicknamed Ayatollah Mike or Dark Prince. He was portrayed in the movie Zero Dark Thirty based on the events surrounding the assassination of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
Separately, Alforat News Agency and Mehr News have reported that an American C-27J transport aircraft has crashed west of al-Anbar province in Iraq. It is not known if Iranian-backed forces near Syria-Iraq border have played a role in the crash of the military aircraft.
The news of the two crashes have not been covered by mainstream US news media but Radio Free Europe has confirmed that the U.S. Jet that crashed in Afghanistan was no ordinary 'Spy Plane' but a "very High-Value Asset." It was one of just four Bombardier E-11As that were purchased by the U.S. Air Force and "outfitted with a suite of signals intelligence and signals transfer capabilities" known as the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN), according to Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at the Virginia-based aviation consultancy Teal Group. The plane was much more significant than an ordinary surveillance or communications aircraft. "Basically, 'WiFi in the sky' is one way of looking at it," he says. "But when you are a signals intelligence plane, there are a whole host of applications for that." It is able to relay voice communications, video, photographic images, and other data between aircraft and ground troops that are often using different types of communications networks.
There have been two other setbacks this week for the US-Saudi alliance. In Syria, the city of Khan Tooman in which 13 Iranian fighters had been killed by Pro-Saudi forces, was freed yesterday by Iran-backed Syrian Army. In Yemen, Houthis claim they pushed back Saudi-led forces by killing or capturing hundreds of them, and fired rockets at Saudi Aramco facilities.
Meanwhile, the extent of US casualties during Iran's missile attack on Ain Assad US base in Iraq remains controversial. Iranians claim more than a hundred Americans were hurt or killed. Donald Trump initially said there were no injuries but since then Pentagon has confirmed at least 50 American service member have been treated for traumatic brain injuries and concussions, some seriously. Trump has downplayed the injuries as "headaches and a couple of other things.. not very serious." In response, some veterans group are seeking an apology from President Trump for his comments on brain injuries.
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