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Capt.Rene D'Hondt
Lieutenant
Joined: 22 Jul 2003
Posts: 182
Location: Ontario,Canada
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 Thu Mar 18, 2004 3:12 pm BREAKING NEWS:Al-Queda's 2nd almost Captured! |
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Pakistani forces have surrounded what may be a "high-value" al Qaeda target in Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan, President Pervez Musharraf told CNN.
"We feel that there may be a high-value target," Musharraf told CNN. "I can't say who."
Two Pakistani government sources told CNN that intelligence indicates the surrounded figure is Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's number two leader.
More than 200 al Qaeda fighters are trying to prevent his capture, the sources said.
Musharraf said the ferociousness of the surrounded fighters indicates that they are protecting someone particularly significant.
The military asked locals to leave and is flying helicopters overhead, "pounding" the area with artillery, he said.
U.S. and Pakistani officials have said they believe bin Laden probably is in Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan.
Word of the standoff comes after Pakistan announced it has launched a fresh offensive against suspected militants near the Afghan border.
Hundreds of Pakistani troops backed by heavy artillery and helicopter gunships raided homes in the nation's tribal region of South Waziristan, two days after a fierce assault in the same area left dozens dead.
On Tuesday, at least 39 people were killed in a raid on suspected Taliban and al Qaeda militants in a fortress-like compound in Kaloosha, close to the border.
Fifteen soldiers died, while Pakistani forces killed 24 suspects, most of them foreign fighters, military officials said. (Full story)
Intelligence officers are also questioning 18 people captured during the raids.
In retaliation, angry tribesmen torched more than a dozen military vehicles -- some loaded with ammunition -- on Tuesday and Wednesday.
'Finish the terrorists'
Pakistani Information Minister Shiekh Rashid Ahmed told CNN on Thursday that "for the first time in the history, Pakistani forces have entered there to finish the terrorists."
"We are committed against terrorism and we have to pay the price," he said.
Pakistan forces have launched a number of sweeps for "suspected foreign terrorists" along the border after Afghan and U.S. officials complained they were escaping to sanctuaries in Pakistan.
About 70,000 Pakistan troops are in the tribal regions and the recent offensive coincides with a major U.S. military operation on the other side of the border in Afghanistan to capture terror suspects.
Though a spring offensive across southern and eastern Afghanistan, called Operation "Mountain Storm", is yet to be officially launched, U.S. military operations there have been stepped up.
Powell: Pakistan a key ally
Earlier Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell met with Musharraf in Islamabad and said Washington will designate Pakistan a major, non-NATO ally, making it easier for the country to buy advanced U.S. weapons.
His announcement came despite U.S. concern about the recent nuclear proliferation row involving the founder of Pakistan's nuclear program.
Earlier this year, Abdul Qadeer Khan admitted he gave nuclear weapons technology to other countries.
But Musharraf has been a steadfast ally of the United Sates in the war against terror, despite considerable pressure from Pakistan's mostly Muslim population.
Powell told CNN the United States is hoping for further assistance. On Thursday Pakistani forces launched a fresh offensive against suspected al Qaeda and Taliban fighters near the Afghan border.
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Defiant
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 04 Jul 2001
Posts: 15946
Location: Oregon City, OR
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| Sun Mar 21, 2004 12:01 pm |
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Almost only counts in Horseshoes and Hand Gernades.
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