Pakistanis May Be Near al-Qaida's No. 2
Pakistani forces believe they have cornered and perhaps wounded Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, in a battle near the Afghan border, three senior Pakistani officials said Thursday, the first major break in the world's most intense manhunt in more than a year.
Hundreds of troops and paramilitary rangers pounded several fortress-like mud-brick compounds with artillery and fired on them from helicopter gunships, as entrenched suspects fought back hard in the mountainous region. An intelligence official said 'dozens' were killed Thursday.
The officials told The Associated Press that intelligence indicated the forces had surrounded the Egyptian-born al-Zawahri in an operation that began Tuesday in South Waziristan, a semi-autonomous tribal belt long believed the most likely hiding place for the top two al-Qaida leaders.
There was no indication bin Laden was with al-Zawahri. However, the two have traveled together in the past, and bin Laden and al-Zawahri appeared jointly in video tapes released shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Hundreds of troops and paramilitary rangers pounded several fortress-like mud-brick compounds with artillery and fired on them from helicopter gunships, as entrenched suspects fought back hard in the mountainous region. An intelligence official said 'dozens' were killed Thursday.
The officials told The Associated Press that intelligence indicated the forces had surrounded the Egyptian-born al-Zawahri in an operation that began Tuesday in South Waziristan, a semi-autonomous tribal belt long believed the most likely hiding place for the top two al-Qaida leaders.
There was no indication bin Laden was with al-Zawahri. However, the two have traveled together in the past, and bin Laden and al-Zawahri appeared jointly in video tapes released shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
