U.S. officials say that a top Al-Qaeda leader was killed in the mountains of northwest Pakistan. At the same time, however, Pakistan strangely denied any such attack took place. Neither side has made a statement resolving the disconnect.
U.S. officials did not identify who was killed. The only confirmation available is that the high-ranking Al-Qaeda leader is not the one the U.S. has pursued since 9/11: Osama bin Laden. It was also not his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri. The report, still awaiting confirmation, would be the first such event in nearly a year.
The last high-ranking al-Qaeda official killed by the U.S. was Abu Laith al-Libi on Jan. 28, 2008. As with this report, he was killed by a Predator drone attack. The attack apparently took place in the past day or two.
Predator drones, operated by the CIA, have seen increasing usage near the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan opposes the expanded use of such drone aircraft, however. CIA missions have resulted in nearly 50 drone air strikes in northwestern border regions of Pakistan this year. Those have resulted in the killing of about 415 people.
According to the reports, at least four people were killed and four were injured when the drone struck with a Hellfire missile in an area of the South Waziristan province.
While the Pakistani public is already unhappy with the current crop of drones, the U.S. Air Force has acknowledged that it is testing a new, unmanned drone with a stealth design. This drone, unlike the others, is more for military reconnaissance and surveillance missions, than actual strikes on targets. The aircraft has been nicknamed "The Beast of Kandahar."
Experts feel that this new drone is targeting a different foe: Iran. The Taliban and al-Qaeda do not have the capability of shooting down Predator drones effectively, so the use of this new drone in Afghanistan would make little sense.
Written by Michael Santo
HULIQ.com
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