Posted on 01/13/2006 3:38:41 PM PST by John W
Jan. 13, 2006 — Today, according to Pakistani military sources, U.S. aircraft attacked a compound known to be frequented by high level al Qaeda operatives. Pakistani officials tell ABC News that al Qaeda leader Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant, may have been among them.
U.S. intelligence for the last few days indicated that Zawahiri might be in the location or about to arrive, although there is still no confirmation from U.S. officials that he was among the victims.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
LOL. Oops, was it supposed to be a secret?
CIA missile hits compound thought to contain bin Laden deputy
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - A CIA-controlled unmanned aircraft fired a missile Friday into a compound just inside Pakistan's border with Afghanistan after the CIA received intelligence that Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant and other senior al-Qaida members were inside, U.S. intelligence officials said.At least 17 people were killed, but it couldn't be immediately confirmed if al Qaida's No. 2 leader, Ayman Zawahri, or other top members of the Islamic terrorist network were among them, or were even present at the time, the officials said.
The officials said that killing Zawahri or bin Laden would be a "major victory in the war on terror," as one put it, but they acknowledged that it probably wouldn't cripple al-Qaida or significantly reduce the threat of new terrorist attacks. The reason, they said, is that terrorist cells now operate independently rather than on orders from bin Laden or Zawahri, and that Iraq has become a new training ground for Islamic extremists.
The U.S. intelligence officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the operation was top secret and they weren't authorized to discuss it.
A CIA spokesman declined to comment.
The attack targeted a compound in the remote village of Damadola, about four miles from the border with Afghanistan, after intelligence indicated that Zawahri and other top al-Qaida operatives were there, said the intelligence officials.
The operation was carried out by a CIA-controlled Predator surveillance aircraft armed with a Hellfire air-to-ground missile, a method the spy agency has used in the past to kill "high-value" terrorists in Pakistan, Yemen and Iraq.
The agency is believed to operate a few dozen Hellfire-equipped Predators.
Video shot by the Predator during the attack in Damadola, which is also about 125 miles southeast of the Pakistan capital of Islamabad, indicated that 17 people were killed in the strike, said the intelligence officials.
News reports from Pakistan confirmed that an attack took place and quoted local officials as saying that 18 people, including women and children, were killed.
Zawahri, a physician who led Egyptian Islamic Jihad and then merged it with bin Laden's network, is considered al-Qaida's top ideologue.
U.S. officials believe that Zawahri, bin Laden and other al-Qaida members have been hiding among friendly Pashtun tribes on the rugged Afghan-Pakistan border since the U.S.-led intervention in Afghanistan that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
Gen. Pervez Musharaf, Pakistan's military ruler, has deployed some 70,000 troops on his side of the border in a bid to capture al-Qaida members and fighters from the Taliban, the Islamic militia that harbored bin Laden until it was driven from power by the U.S.-led intervention.
There have been reports of U.S. special forces and aircraft making forays across the frontier to hunt down al-Qaida members, but Pakistan denies that such operations have taken place.
Zawahri increasingly has become the public face of the terrorist network, appearing in videotapes sent to Arab television news stations.
In his most recent videotape, aired on Jan. 6 by the Al-Jazeera television network, Zawahri claimed that President Bush's decision to reduce the U.S. military presence in Iraq by about 7,000 troops was a victory for radical Islamic fighters.
"Bush, you have to admit that you have been defeated in Iraq, that you are being defeated in Afghanistan, and that you will be defeated in Palestine soon with God's help and strength," he said in the tape.
Bin Laden hasn't been heard from, in either a videotape or audiotape, for more than a year.
Who is "we", Kimosabi? Please do not include me with massively ignorant and delusional defeatists like you. everything is happening according to a well developed plan. Only fools like you (and the rest of the massively ignorant Left) can't or refuse to see that. For those who understand but refuse to acknowledge our plan for victory, I have only one word: Traitor!
I was just watching the CNN video ...when this first broke...their reporter said there was another mystery strike in that region in the last couple of days. That is new news..
"And soon they will decide that we whacked him instead of capturing him because we wouldn't be allowed to torture him."
That sounds like a real war, and don't forget that we would have to feed him too.
I like those odds! But I wouldn't risk any of my hard earned money on it.
I'll stay on this thread for NEWS.
Bin Laden hasn't been heard from, in either a videotape or audiotape, for more than a year."
And now Zawahiri won't be heard from for ever.
Thank you for your reply to my post, and I hope a few more freepers will take a look at it, while we are all waiting for "confirmation".
I really enjoyed the link I posted on reply #676. (I hope dog gets to take a look at it.)
What I really found facinating, and kinda irritating at the same time, was the Apache having to "request permission" for all three kills, and the destruction of the terrorists two vehicles. That showed me, IMHO, that our guys aren't just wasting everything and everybody (weddings and stuff)like the MSM tries to depict them. That's why I enjoyed watching it.
....But when the Apache crew got the "OK"........they didn't waste any time, or 30mm rounds....
damn Batchelor is not covering this, at least in hour #1.
a probative strike to shake the nest, get some people moving, to cluster at this "safe house" hot today perhaps?
And I'll add this: *IF* we got Zawahiri today, it would serve to confirm the demise of OBL to me (a) if we see no more vacation videos from either of those creeps; or (b) if another new guy suddenly emerges on tape.
Very good point.
hot=hit
What a pic of Teddy!!
I had no idea he could conduct an orchestra, AND pick his nose at the same time!!!
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