Osama caught - rumors abound...

2/28/04 | Gigantor

[kattracks]

Hhere's some other news from the area:

11 killed in shooting near Afghan border

The Associated Press
2/28/2004, 4:56 a.m. ET

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) ? Pakistani forces fired at a minibus Saturday when it failed to stop at a roadblock in a tribal region where anti-terrorism operations have been ongoing, killing at least 11 people, local officials and a resident said.

The shooting occurred at Zeri Noor, a village just outside of Wana, the main town in tribal South Waziristan, two Wana officials told The Associated Press. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, put the death toll at 11.

Allah Dad, a local resident, told the AP that the bus was filled mostly with Afghan refugees on their way to the border. A taxi driving near the minibus was also hit, and the driver killed, Dad said.

He said as many as 12 people were killed, and seven more injured in the shooting.

"They opened fire when the bus didn't stop," Dad said. "There is a lot of tension in the area and a lot of troops. The roads to Afghanistan have been sealed."

Army spokesman Gen. Shaukat Sultan would not confirm the reports, but said he would look into them.

[rottndog]

Not that I would put one in my mouth.

[Prime Choice]

Well, I have my popcorn ...

Hope ya brought enough for everyone!

[Mo1]

I want that Egyptian as much as Osama,but I know symbolically Osama in handcuffs would make more of a worldwide splash

Agreed .. we'll get they other guy .. I have no doubt about that

[Texasforever]

I guess I'll go make fresh coffee!

I picked the wrong minute to stop drinking.

[kcvl]

Monica Lewinsky started out as a rumor. :-)

ROFLOL!

[JennysCool]

"They opened fire when the bus didn't stop," Dad said.

Dad. Always with the recriminations. Geez.

[Texasforever]

Are you awake?

[KQQL]

U.S. dragnet closing in on Osama?

- Osama bin Laden's days may well be numbered, as increasingly confident statements by the U.S. military in Kabul are matched by heightened activity along the Afghan-Pakistan frontier.

---

http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp;:40401000:08899a08b3482d?type=worldNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=4452847

[FreedomPoster]

>>An FR exclusive!

Come now; you've been a FReeper long enough to know that you should say "*another* FR exclusive". Like Columbia, for instance.

>>But I'm keeping my whip handy, just in case. ;-)

TPIWWP

;-)

[Cindy]

http://www.paktoday.com

http://www.paknews.com

[JennysCool]

Might be something here ...

[MEG33]

Good idea..we don't want to be anxious all by ourselves here!

[Prince Charles]

Sounds like if he was in that van they'll be picking him up with a stick and a spoon.

[ReformedBeckite]

I was thinking of going to bed, but now I may also have to make a fresh pot of coffee

[HarryCaul]

Yeah, these are the times I really enjoy FR. These breaking (potentially) stories when the members collect info from a truly staggering number of sources.

[Fenris6]

Lets go Recon! Kick some tail! Nab the SOB!

[Fledermaus]

I'm going to take some anti-anxious substances and just head to the cave.

[kcvl]

Last Update: 28/02/2004 12:37

Report: Osama bin Laden captured between Afghanistan and Pakistan

By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent and DPA



Osama bin Laden has been captured along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to a report Saturday on Tehran Radio.




There was no confirmation of the report from any other media sources.

The Al-Qaida leader has been the target of a massive manhunt by the United States since the September 11, 2000 attacks in which two hijacked airplanes slammed into the World Trade Center in New York, causing it to collapse, while another plane hit the Pentagon, and a fourth apparently crashed in a field when passengers resisted the militants.

Earlier Saturday, DPA reported that hundreds of U.S.-led coalition troops launched an operation in the Afghanistan's eastern province of Khost to hunt down Al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives, citing the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP).

Qoting witnesses AIB said about 35 military vehicles and tanks were seen moving towards the southeastern part of the province close to the Pakistani border.

"The convoy has now reached around the areas of Tora Ghara, Toda Cheena and Mustalbar and has launched the search operation, along the Pak-Afghan border region," travellers moving across the border into Pakistani town of Miranshah told AIP.

Helicopters were also flying over the area that faces Pakistan's north Waziristan region in the east, they said.

According to AIP no Khost official was immediately available for comments on the new operation but U.S. officials had indicated last week that a big mobilization of coalition troops in Afghanistan was imminent to flush out militants suspected in the mountain region.

There had been rockets attacks in recent weeks from the southeastern part of the Khost aimed at U.S. and government targets.

Khost had been one of the main strongholds of the extremist Taliban regime in the years before they were toppled by a U.S.-led military coalition in late 2001.

Some 11,500 U.S. troops are currently deployed in Afghanistan to hunt down remnants of the ousted Taliban regime and members of the Al-Qaida network, mainly in the south and southeast.

[Prince Charles]

Ten killed in Pakistan in mistaken fire


PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Feb 28 (Reuters) - At least 10 people were killed when Pakistani troops opened fire on a van they mistakenly believed was carrying Islamic militants, witnesses and intelligence officials said on Saturday.

The incident took place shortly after rockets were fired on a military camp in South Waziristan tribal region, near the Afghan border. "According to our initial investigations, it was a mistaken fire," an intelligence official told Reuters.