Rumor – Did U.S. Missile Strike Get al Qaeda #2 al Zawahiri ?

There is rumor and speculation that a U.S. fired missile in Pakistan earlier this week was more than a response to a clash on the Afghan border. Several blogs and other sources are speculating that it may have been a surgical strike against an al Qaeda high value target (HVT), and the target may have been al Qaeda #2 man, Ayman al Zawahiri.

AJStrata Has more, including comments

as does Rusty at My Pet Jawa

We will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.

Background Info

U.S. Drone Suspected of Firing Missile In Pakistan

A pilotless U.S. drone was suspected to have fired a missile into a Pakistani area on the Afghan border on Tuesday, but there was no word on the target or casualties, a government official said.

The missile was thought to have been fired into the Mohmand ethnic Pashtun tribal area in northwest Pakistan where this year, U.S.-controlled Predator aircraft have struck at least four sites used by al Qaeda operatives, killing dozens of suspected militants.

“There was an attack by a spy plane close to the Afghan border but we don’t have information about casualties or damage,” said the government official based in the region. He declined to be identified.

Mohmand has not been a hotbed of support for al Qaeda and the Taliban but militants are known to operate there.

A Pakistani military spokesman said there had been a clash in the area but on the Afghan side of the border, where Afghan forces had been battling militants.

Neither U.S. nor Pakistani authorities usually confirm U.S. missile attacks on Pakistani territory, which would be an infringement of Pakistan

U.S. Military Confirms Pakistan Missile Strike

The United States military has confirmed that it carried out a missile strike on Pakistan soil near the Afghan border that killed 11 Pakistani soldiers.

Our South Asia correspondent Peter Lloyd, says it appears the Pakistani troops died during an operation, which was meant to be targeting Taliban militants.

The US was responding to an earlier incident in which insurgents launched an attack into Afghanistan.

The incident is said to have occurred at a border post in the Mohmmand Tribal area in northwestern Pakistan.

Officials say the Pakistani post was hit during an exchange of fire between Taliban militants and troops in Afghanistan’s neighbouring Kunar Province.

Source

UPDATE: 06/13/08 – This Report has Not Been Confirmed By U.S. Source

U.S aircraft have again entered Pakistan’s air space and launched another air strike in the country’s South Waziristan tribal region, witnesses in the region said Thursday.

There was no casualty but the air raids at Angoor Ada near the Afghan border created panic among the people, they said.

According to sources, the American planes Wednesday night bombed Zeyub mountainous range, around 25 km west of Wana, the center of South Waziristan.

The air strike uprooted trees and created deep caves in the mountainous region.

After the American force air strike, more than ten mortar shells were fired from the Bermal area in Afghanistan, locals said.

The shells landed at Angoor Adda, Bagar and Moosa Nika and caused huge explosions, they said.

An official said that the local administration had also received information about the air strike.

Sources said that the American spy planes were seen flying at low altitude in North Waziristan.

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