(CNN) -- A CIA airstrike on a building in Pakistan may have killed Osama bin Laden's most-trusted aide, sources said.
The building where Ayman al-Zawahiri was thought to be is in Damadola, a small village near the Afghan border.
There has been no confirmation that al-Zawahiri was killed in the attack. However, sources say there was intelligence suggesting he was in the building at the time of the strike.
Pakistani officials were at the scene of the strike, trying to determine if Al-Zawahiri was killed.
A doctor in the area told The Associated Press that at least 17 people were killed in the attack, but other witnesses at the scene said the death toll was higher.
Just last week, the Arabic-language news network, Al-Jazeera, aired a videotape in which the al Qaeda operative called on President Bush to concede defeat in Iraq.
It was al-Zawahiri's fifth message released over the past year, including ones claiming responsibility for the July attacks on the transit system in London, England.
The U.S. government is offering up to $25 million for information leading to the capture of al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian doctor and long-time bin Laden associate.
the most effective way to fight terrorism is to find and arrest the top al-Qaeda peeps, have Bush Jr. himself behead the mofos, and place their heads in front of the White House.
I wonder how many recruits the Islamic Militatants will get with the "martyrs" heads in front of the White House?
but America is too p****y, too politically correct, too obsessed with worldwide power to actually follow through
nikiTa said this in post #2 : Wow, killed his aide. That\\'s like killing his nurse.
STILL, not impressed, boys.
Al Zawahiri is much more than an aide. Many top members of the government have said that he is a mastermind in planning terrorist schemes. Bin Laden is more the spiritual head, and Al Zawahiri is the planner.
Yeah Bin Laden is the money man he was never smart enough to plan any of the attacks.
Zawahiri is a different guy altogether extremely smart, extremely popular and extremely dangerous. If he is alive and he probably is he has enough friends in the ME that will hide and assist him so that he won't be found.
Like I said he is to canny to stay in one place to long that is a sure fire way of getting caught. And lets be honest about this when it comes to the US killing people in air strikes they have a less that perfect record, how many air strikes was Saddam killed in before we caught him? 5 by my count and OBL? god only knows how many air strikes he has died in. I would be surprised if the US had actually killed their man.
Well look like the CIA f***ed up something real; bad here. They missed thier target, killed 18 people, destroyed a village and did nor get clearence form the Pakistanis to bomb the area concerned. Seriuosly where does the US get off thinking it can act like this - again.
I am STILL not convinced that Osama bin Laden is the mastermind behind 9-11. And no one can program me to believe otherwise...including the television.
Well the thing is he is not dead in fact he is very much alive and laughing at how the US has made his job ( preaching against the US) a whole lot easier.
Duirng thr weekend there were mass demonstartions against the US due to the actions of this bombing. The US ambassador to Pakistan was called to the meet the President of Pakistan to explain ( something he could not do).
18 people dead, main target missed, village destroyed or partially destroyed and diplomatic relations damaged. Where is the apology from the US for this? Where is the offer of compensation for the village damaged? where is the explanation about why the US can bomb a friendly country without express permission to do so? Whe does the US hire people thatv are so incompotent in terms of bobming raids, if they are not missing target they are killing civlians or there own allies.
Finally what would happen if a friendly country bombed the US tryiing to kill a terroirist and instead killed 18 US citizens. would it be swept under the carpet like this has ?
Pakistan is NOT our friend. They are cooperating to keep the war out of their country. That is all.
BTW- We killed 10 or 12 terrorists in this attack and killed some of their supporters. The people who gave aid and comfort to the enemy put themselves in harms way. It was their choice. And besides, they don't care as much about dying as you or I. To die for the "cause" is honorable to them so, don't get to hung up on how horrible they portray this in the media.
"Those who know nothing of Islam pretend that Islam counsels against war. Those who say this are witless." ~Ayatollah Khomeini
You are the first and only persaon that is making the claim that terroists were killed when everybody even Condoleza Rice ( on a vist to Russia) and even Bush senior ( iroically on a goodwill vist to Pakistan) have accepted that it civlians that were killed.
Ok so Pakistan is no a friends of the US but it is an ally in the "war on terror" and has killed and captured many Al Queda suspects.
And it was thier choice they never got a choice the US murdred them.
Tell me what the hell gives the US god given right to strike a country without warning or without permission in any other country that could seen as an act of war.
Tell me what the hell gives the US god given right to strike a country without warning or without permission in any other country that could seen as an act of war.
The one and only true God has not given the US the right, but lil ole satan seems to have hold of this country.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) -- At least four foreign terrorists died in the purported U.S. airstrike aimed at al Qaeda's No. 2 leader in a Pakistani border village, the provincial government said Tuesday.
The Bush administration, meanwhile, called Pakistan a valued ally in the war on terror Tuesday and pledged to continue pursuing al Qaeda leaders amid concerns the airstrike has strained ties between the two countries and could provoke more anti-American sentiment.
The statement issued by the administration of Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal regions bordering Afghanistan also said that between 10 and 12 foreign extremists had been invited to the dinner at the village hit in Friday's attack.
It was the first official confirmation by Pakistani authorities that foreign militants were killed in the attack on the village of Damadola. Women and children also died, triggering outrage in this Islamic nation.
The statement did not identify who the foreigners were or who was the target of the missile strike.
Pakistani intelligence officials have said Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant, had been invited to a dinner in the targeted village of Damadola to mark an Islamic holiday but did not show up and sent some aides instead.
There have been conflicting accounts from Pakistani officials and witnesses over who, if anyone, reclaimed bodies from the scene of the missile strike.
Damadola residents claim all the victims were locals and they buried them all. One Pakistani official told The Associated Press on Saturday that the bodies had been taken away for DNA tests, although it wasn't clear by whom.
The statement, citing the chief official in the Bajur region where the Damadola is located, said its findings were from a report compiled by a "joint investigation team" but gave no specifics on who was included in the team.
"Four or five foreign terrorists have been killed in this missile attack whose dead bodies have been taken away by their companions to hide the real reason of the attack," the statement said.
"It is regrettable that 18 local people lost their lives in the attack, but this fact also cannot be denied, that 10-12 foreign extremists had been invited on a dinner," it said.
Yeah I read this around ten minutes ago and yes you killed four or five terrorists BUT who did you kill? Al Queda's no2? did you get the big fish OBL? a main weapons dealer? nop you got nobodies blips on the terrorists screen. You killed them at the weekend when there is every possibility they would have been killed by coaltion troops later on in the week.
If anything this artiucle proves how woeful US intelligence is you went out to kill somebody who was not even there probably not in the country I'm sorry but that is pathetic.
Still the question remain's unanswred what gives the US the right to bomb countries without prior warning or permission?
Hell why did the US not mobolise US troops and ask for Pakistani back up? it takes longer but you might have got some info ( not likely these are nobodies we are talking) and 18 people would not have died and more importantly for the US there intelligence unit would not have been made to look like a laughing stock . . . yet again
01-14-2006 12:50 AM
