WorldNetDaily: Al-Qaida No. 2 man cornered in Pakistan?: "Three senior Pakistani officials claim local troops have surrounded al-Qaida No. 2 man Ayman al-Zawahiri in an operation near the Afghan border.
The operation began Tuesday and reportedly involves hundreds of troops and paramilitary rangers.
'We have been receiving intelligence and information from our agents who are working in the tribal areas that al-Zawahiri could be among the people hiding there,' a military official told the Associated Press. 'All of our efforts are to capture him.'
In an interview with CNN, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said he had spoken with the commander of Pakistani troops in the region. The commander reported 'fierce resistance' from a group of al-Qaida fighters.
'We feel that there may be a high-value target,' Musharraf told CNN. 'I can't say who.'
He told the network the military asked locals to leave and is flying helicopters overhead, 'pounding' the area with artillery.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a U.S. counterterrorism official told AP: 'It would appear that the Pakistanis have surrounded a very senior al-Qaida figure, but at this point we are not certain who it is.'
Mansoor Ijaz of the Fox News Channel reported that Pakistani intelligence sources said it is 'highly probable that the high value target' that has been surrounded is either bin Laden or al-Zawahiri.
Ijaz said capturing al-Zawahiri would be 'bigger than Osama bin Laden' because of his mastery in planning and coordinating deadly terrorist attacks and ability to link al-Qaida cells around the world."
The operation began Tuesday and reportedly involves hundreds of troops and paramilitary rangers.
'We have been receiving intelligence and information from our agents who are working in the tribal areas that al-Zawahiri could be among the people hiding there,' a military official told the Associated Press. 'All of our efforts are to capture him.'
In an interview with CNN, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said he had spoken with the commander of Pakistani troops in the region. The commander reported 'fierce resistance' from a group of al-Qaida fighters.
'We feel that there may be a high-value target,' Musharraf told CNN. 'I can't say who.'
He told the network the military asked locals to leave and is flying helicopters overhead, 'pounding' the area with artillery.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a U.S. counterterrorism official told AP: 'It would appear that the Pakistanis have surrounded a very senior al-Qaida figure, but at this point we are not certain who it is.'
Mansoor Ijaz of the Fox News Channel reported that Pakistani intelligence sources said it is 'highly probable that the high value target' that has been surrounded is either bin Laden or al-Zawahiri.
Ijaz said capturing al-Zawahiri would be 'bigger than Osama bin Laden' because of his mastery in planning and coordinating deadly terrorist attacks and ability to link al-Qaida cells around the world."
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