Posted on 04/13/2006 12:33:49 PM PDT by managusta
A top Al-Qaeda operative indicted for the 1998 US embassy bombings in Africa was the target of a Pakistani military strike and is believed to have been killed, a security official said.
The raid which destroyed two houses Wednesday night is believed to have killed Egyptian-born explosives expert Abdul Rahman Al-Muhajir and seven other militants, the senior official told AFP on Thursday.
Al-Muhajir is one of many aliases of Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah, who carries a five million dollar bounty on his head and was indicted for the attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania which killed more than 220 people.
"Al-Muhajir was the target of the raid," the official said on condition of anonymity. The raid involving helicopter gunships also killed two women and a child, he said.
Military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan confirmed the raid targeted foreign militants in Anghar town, six kilometers (four miles) south of Miranshah -- the main town in North Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
"I am not in a position to comment on it," Sultan told AFP when asked if he could confirm that Al-Muhajir was killed in the raid.
"We can confirm the identities of the foreigners killed once we have carried out a thorough ground check."
US intelligence said Rahman's real name was Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah. He had been operating under different aliases: Abdul Rahman, Abdul Rahman Al-Muhajir, Abdel Rahman and Mohammed K.A. Al-Namer.
A US Central Investigation Agency's list of most wanted Al-Qaeda "terrorists" described him as a senior explosives expert.
"He is involved in multiple operations and may be knowledgeable of CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear)" attacks, the list seen by AFP said. It described his location in Pakistan.
It also described him as a close associate of former Al-Qaeda operations chief Hamza Rabia, who was killed in an explosion in the same region late last year.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation's website describes Atwah as among the "most wanted terrorists."
The 41-year-old Egyptian was indicted in the Southern District of New York for his alleged involvement in the bombings of the US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, on August 7, 1998, it said.
Wednesday's raid was the latest in a series of army operations against suspected militants in lawless North Waziristan in the past few weeks.
Sultan said Cobra helicopters and helicopter gunships were used Thursday in knocking out the militants' hideout. "Some foreigners were killed," he said.
He did not have an exact number nor their identities and nationalities.
The security official said the raid destroyed two houses belonging to local tribesmen Muhammed Akbar and Jalandhar Shah.
"Five foreigners including Al-Muhajir were targeted in the house owned by Shah which was completely destroyed," the official said.
He said three "miscreants were killed in the house of Akbar along with two women and a child."
Pakistan has deployed 80,000 troops on the border to hunt militants who took refuge in the rugged tribal belt after Afghanistan's Taliban regime was toppled following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Since then it has captured around 700 Al-Qaeda militants. Major catches include chief 9/11 planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Tanzanian Ahmad Khalfan Ghailani, who was also indicted in the 1998 bombing in East Africa.
President Pervez Musharraf, a key US ally in "war on terror" last month warned foreign insurgents to leave the tribal belt or be killed.
Was it the "#3 man" again?
Excellent news.
Okay, what's the over or under for when the locals start screaming that only innocent women or children were killed instead?
Democrats are weeping.
I'm waiting for the claim they only killed puppies and kittens.
I remember when Democrats were some of the best Fire-breathing, staunch defenders of America:
Sam Nunn
Scoop Jackson
John F Kennedy
Today they would surely be Republicans or in the private sector...
Good news bump.
AQ number threes have a shorter life expectancy than Star Trek red shirts.
Sam Nunn was good at seeming Conservative but very liberal
Steve walks warily down the street,
with the brim pulled way down low
Ain't no sound but the sound of his feet,
machine guns ready to go
Are you ready,
Are you ready for this
Are you hanging on the edge of your seat
Out of the doorway the bullets rip
To the sound of the beat
Another one bites the dust
Nice hit!
Notice that there isn't any "rage in the streets" of the Islamic world over the loss of ranking Al Qaeda, either.
Al-Qaeda lost the global public relations war after their hotel bombings in Jordan and condemnation of Egyptian pyramids and statues.
You don't want to wake up the MSM
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Submit A Tip | Wanted by the FBI | War on Terror | FBI Home Page The alleged terrorists on this list have been indicted by sitting Federal Grand Juries in various jurisdictions in the United States for the crimes reflected on their wanted posters. Evidence was gathered and presented to the Grand Juries, which led to their being charged. The indictments currently listed on the posters allow them to be arrested and brought to justice. Future indictments may be handed down as various investigations proceed in connection to other terrorist incidents, for example, the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The Rewards for Justice program, administered by the United States Department of State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, offers rewards for information leading to the arrest of many of these terrorists. It is also important to note that these individuals will remain wanted in connection with their alleged crimes until such time as the charges are dropped or when credible physical evidence is obtained, which proves with 100% accuracy, that they are deceased. |
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I was only a Nunn fan for a brief time, then I started paying attention to politics.
When I was a kid growing up, the main congressman in our area was a democrat named Bill Nichols. Mr. Nichols was ex-military and 100% behind the military. The reserve center in my old home town has his name on it (built long after he died). A republican now has that seat in congress. I seriously doubt Mr. Nichols would have stood for the military being kicked around by the socialist democrats now. He was a Zell Miller type. Few, if any, exist in the current communist democratik party of homosexualism.
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