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Pakistan army 'just miss' Zawahiri
islamonline.net ^ | Sep 2, 2008 3:14 PM | Juplia on Discussion Forum

Posted on 09/03/2008 12:48:39 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach

Pakistan's security forces have missed the opportunity to capture al-Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, a senior government official has said.

Rehman Malik, the adviser to Pakistan's prime minister on security affairs, said on Monday they also received a report al-Zawahiri's wife had been in the tribal region of Mohmand.

Pakistani forces stormed the location but did not find the couple, he said, without indicating when the raid took place.


He said al-Zawahri moved between Mohmand and the Afghan provinces of Kunar and Paktika.
"We certainly had traced him at one place, but we missed the chance. So he's moving in Mohmand and, of course, sometimes in Kunar, mostly in Kunar and Paktia."

Al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda's leader, have been in hiding since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

They are both believed to be in tribal region that straddles northwest Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan.

According to Malik, three weeks of fighting in the Pakistani-Afghan border district of Bajur had killed a number of civilians and badly damaged several villages.

Al Jazeera's correspondent in Islamabad quoted a tribal and security sources as saying 15 Pakistani civilians were killed in tribal area of Bajaur when two shells fell on their two homes.

Of about 500,000 people who fled, many of them to government relief camps, about 30,000 had returned by Monday.

Hand in glove

Malik said the Pakistani Taliban were working directly with Al-Qaeda, providing them with shelter and acting as their mouthpiece.

"They have not only connections, I would say Tehrik-e-Taliban is an extension of Al-Qaeda," he said, referring to a Pakistani Taliban umbrella group which authorities blame for a string of bomb attacks over the past year that have killed hundreds of people.

Pakistan last month banned the Taliban group, which was also accused of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister, in December.

The US says Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters are based in sanctuaries in Pakistan's tribal areas where they orchestrate attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan and plot
violent attacks in the West.

The resignation of Pervez Musharraf, the former president and staunch US ally, last month raised questions about the government's commitment to the unpopular US-led "war on terror" campaign.

But US Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US armed forces, said last week he was encouraged by recent Pakistani action against fighters, while adding both Pakistan
and the United States needed to do more to shore up security.


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: afghanistan; alqaeda; circlingthedrain; elvisbinladen; fata; geopolitics; islam; mohammedanism; mohmand; nwfp; pakistan; taliban; zawahiri
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To: Geist Krieger

More like 5+ km.

Of course the danger is that it would be a mortal wound, not a quick, clean kill.

But a W-88 sends a big, clear message, doesn’t it?...


21 posted on 09/03/2008 1:31:25 PM PDT by null and void (Sarah Palin might be more conservative than even John McCain ~ Megyn Kelly, Fox News 9/2/08)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Are we suppose to be surprised? I am firmly convinced that either AQ has operatives in the Pakistan army tipping him off, or Pakistan doesn’t REALLY want to capture him in the first place...

I strongly suspect the second alternative.


22 posted on 09/03/2008 1:46:24 PM PDT by TheBattman (Vote your conscience, or don't complain about RINOs!)
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To: TheBlueMax; WLR; iThinkBig; Molly K.; bayouranger; beebuster2000; maine-iac7; lancer; voletti; ...

Pakistan ۋﮧ۱م

FReepmail if you want on or off

23 posted on 09/03/2008 2:32:37 PM PDT by G8 Diplomat (The thing about politics is it's never so bad that it can't get worse)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Well it appears our military don’t feel the claim was accurate. We shall see.


24 posted on 09/03/2008 2:49:48 PM PDT by Marine_Uncle (Duncan Hunter was our best choice.)
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To: NormsRevenge
"The resignation of Pervez Musharraf, the former president and staunch US ally, last month raised questions about the government's commitment to the unpopular US-led "war on terror" campaign."

It did nothing of the sort. Just the opposite. Muchariff wasn't doing the job. The U.S. told the Army to get rid of him and get with the program. The Pakistan Army runs the country and depends on U.S. largesse.

See reference on June 17.

Pakistani Army launches operation in Hangu; Taliban issue ultimatum. #3

"This makes the area a free-fire zone".

yitbos

25 posted on 09/03/2008 3:11:40 PM PDT by bruinbirdman ("Those who control language control minds." - Ayn Rand)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach; Dog

Maybe this is why we saw such an effort of seemingly one after another Predator strikes.

On another note, we can only hope the change of gov’t there will not be followed by the usual cessation of pursuit efforts.


26 posted on 09/03/2008 3:19:41 PM PDT by BOBTHENAILER (One by one, in small groups or in whole armies, we don't care how we do it, but we're gonna getcha)
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To: reagan_fanatic

I agree. The Taliban and Al Queda were useful idiots to our larger enemies. They did the economic damage and now Zawahiri and Bin Laden are useless. My guess is Zawahiri shows up dead in the next few months. Bin Laden is already dead. Good riddance but some of those responsible in assisting the Taliban are in China. I know, I know, we are afraid of the $800 B in leverage they hold over our heads. We shouldn’t be.


27 posted on 09/03/2008 3:27:31 PM PDT by iThinkBig
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Just a matter of time.....:)


28 posted on 09/03/2008 4:12:50 PM PDT by PEACE ENFORCER (One Needs to Have the Capability of Using Deadly Force at Any Moment.....:))
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach; AdmSmith; Berosus; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Fred Nerks; george76; ...

“Who - does - number - two - work - for?” Thanks Ernest. Frankly, I don’t want to see him captured, I want to see forensic crews using wet vacs at the hit scene.

Pakistanis claim US helicopter-borne forces
assaulted village in South Waziristan
( Unconfirmed )
Long War Journal | September 3, 2008 12:39 AM | Bill Roggio
Posted on 09/03/2008 5:05:33 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2074159/posts


29 posted on 09/03/2008 10:54:49 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______Profile hasn't been updated since Friday, May 30, 2008)
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To: SunkenCiv

Right, if we’re not going to try converting him to Christianity, don’t bother capturing him.


30 posted on 09/04/2008 2:38:23 AM PDT by Berosus (I already have a Messiah, I'm looking for a new president.)
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