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India-Pakistan
Reports: Bin Laden's No. 2 not in targeted village
2006-01-14
Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in the al Qaeda terrorist network -- was not killed in a CIA airstrike on a remote Pakistani village, according a Pakistani intelligence source.
Curses! Foiled again!
Initially, U.S. sources said al-Zawahiri was the target of Friday's strike and may have been among the 18 killed. Pakistan's information minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad told CNN on Saturday the government plans to summon the U.S. ambassador and "make a strong protest" over the bombing of the village of Damadola, near the Afghan border. The Associated Press quoted a senior Pakistani intelligence official as saying "our investigations conclude that they (the CIA) acted on a false information." Reuters also quoted a senior Pakistani official as saying: "Al-Zawahri was not there at the time of the attack."
"Ayman! A drone just flew near the village and... Ayman?... Where'd you go?"
The Pakistani government was expected to issue a statement later Saturday, AP reported. Both the Pentagon and the White House declined to comment on initial reports of the airstrike on Friday. Friday morning's strike killed eight men, five women and five children, Pakistani intelligence sources told CNN. Three homes were targeted. "We are conducting tests to identify the bodies," one intelligence official said.
Posted by:Oztralian

#28  Angry, seething formerly peaceful (albeit damn well armed) villagers with honored guests.

I call doorknob.
Posted by: 6   2006-01-14 18:00  

#27  Then let's just claim DNA evidence shows the gentleman in question has been removed from his earthly coil, and leave it up to him to prove otherwise.
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-01-14 17:47  

#26  Bill Roggio echoes C-Low's point.




DNA testing will be required for positive identification, but reaching the site of the attack may prove difficult. Adnkronos reports “People are very angry. They are not allowing access” to the crash site. The town sits right on the border with Afghanistan in a remote location where Pakistani troops are not believed to be operating. The survivors may bury or destroy the remains before an investigative team arrives, and which may be required to fight their way to the scene of the attack.
Posted by: doc   2006-01-14 16:58  

#25  As to the question of the strike aircraft. Could it have been one of the new Predator "B" hunter killers? Those things are rated for 1500lbs of goodies under each wing.
Posted by: Chanter Clomoter3987   2006-01-14 14:35  

#24  Powerline had an interesting comment:

The AP has more, but not much more. No word yet on Zawahiri. The most interesting thing is the AP account is that the AP had a stringer on the scene of the bombing within twelve hours, before any Pakistani security forces had arrived.
Posted by: 2b   2006-01-14 14:23  

#23  all the denials are coming from people who either couldn't know yet for sure, or have vested reasons in lying..... wait-n-see
Posted by: Frank G   2006-01-14 14:21  

#22  On the subject of wait-and-see, remember the hit on Zarq's entourage some two months ago? I never saw any casualty list from that, after the initial reports of 7 AQ killed. Anyone got any info on that, and if it is still live it gives some perspective on the time frame here.
Posted by: Grunter   2006-01-14 13:07  

#21  Forgot the link -

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/2005/06/508m-for-gmlrs-smart-rockets/index.php
Posted by: Robjack   2006-01-14 13:02  

#20  C-Low, Hellfire missile has about at 20 pound warhead, not 200.

The unitary warhead of the guided MLRS round however, is about 200 pounds and with a 5m cep at the end of a 70Km range. Could be predator was standing by doing real-time BDA for the cannon cockers on the border.
Posted by: Robjack   2006-01-14 13:00  

#19  What is the current status of our relief efforts in Kashmir?

Posted by: Penguin   2006-01-14 12:21  

#18  "'It seems there were some people who were not locals and they were possibly involved in sabotage activities. Most of the bodies were charred,' Sherpao told AFP."

They may have been Hajjis whose boat made a wrong turn somewhere around where the Red Sea meets the Indian Ocean, and they ended up in Pakistan. Probably innocent religious tourists ... or wait a minute, was it a wedding party?
Posted by: The Angry Fliegerabwehrkanonen   2006-01-14 12:16  

#17  C-low
Is the site close enough to Afgan airspace such that a JDam could be dropped there and glide to target?
Posted by: 3dc   2006-01-14 12:13  

#16  I found this on the Pakistani newspaper the Nations web site in an article on the strike.

Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said a number of the dead appeared to be foreigners with suspected terror links.
"It seems there were some people who were not locals and they were possibly involved in sabotage activities. Most of the bodies were charred," Sherpao told AFP.

Posted by: Grins Sluper5274   2006-01-14 12:02  

#15  I agree Frank a hellfire missle which a Predator can only carry two only has around a 200lb warhead. From some CNN footage and word we are talking block building leveled multiple targets that tells me this was a maybe predator order strike aircraft. That is a big gamble to strike a friendly nation territory with strike aircraft this was a major mission plus the fact the locals carted off the bodies if it wasnt high ranking AQ just women and children innocent locals why haul out 5 guys and hide their bodies? The Paks dont want to admit AQ is in thier turf and damm sure dont want to admit the US can at will take out village mountian tops to kill those AQ, dammed if you do dammed if you dont. I say give it a few weeks see if any more videos or tapes pop out I am leaning to NO this just seems like a big gamble for the US to take on to not get some major return on.
Posted by: C-Low   2006-01-14 11:53  

#14  Good point Frank. I had to assume the Paks were in on this hit or they would be protesting at a much higher political level. Getting an unnamed high level official to comment is a great way to help make it fade from the press.
Posted by: 49 Pan   2006-01-14 11:38  

#13  the Paks have good reasons to lie. The US has good reasons to lie. The scummy ISI and the villagers certainly will lie. AQ will lie. The MSM will lie. Give it some time. That was an awfully big hit on a foreign nations' soil to do casually....
Posted by: Frank G   2006-01-14 11:28  

#12  Debka had this earlier the Paks doubt he was thier. Also the 5dead AQ bodies have vanished so that DNA maybe awhile coming. Wether he was thier or not we will see in a few weeks old Zawahiri has been making alot of videos and tapes lately cureous to see if it gets all quiet or not. Dead or not I like how latley we have been hittin in Pak territory or at least Pak territory on paper since they no more control it than we do.

Posted by: C-Low   2006-01-14 11:23  

#11  Missed him by that much?
Posted by: Maxwell Smart   2006-01-14 11:18  

#10  Reuters also quoted a senior Pakistani official as saying: "Al-Zawahri was not there at the time of the attack."

So my question is if you know for sure he's not there, then it comes to reason you know where he is. The Paks not being honest with us again...
Posted by: 49 Pan   2006-01-14 11:18  

#9  The Russians have an interesting take on things. They are saying that we offed Z in a very serious hit some short time ago, right after his latest video debut, but have all sorts of reasons for putting on this show now. They may have a point.

Just guessing, first of all we wanted to nail this annoying, but connected tribe. Second, we wanted to get deep into their communications and maybe break into some of their networks. Third, we are watching some interesting bank accounts. Fourth, we want to see if any foreign government is part of the puzzle. Etc., etc.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2006-01-14 11:16  

#8  Exactly....this strike will cause "chatter"...everyone in his brother in AQ was/is calling someone to find out if Zawahiri was hit.
Posted by: Grins Sluper5274   2006-01-14 11:05  

#7  You don't want to admit it because you have a few days to a week of opportunity to 'spoof' communications allowing you to pull others out into the open for a few more government funded trips to 72 Virgin territory. Or is that Virginia? Whatever.
Posted by: Slatle Slinelet1894   2006-01-14 10:55  

#6  There is no way we risked an international incident...if we weren't 100% sure he was in one of the three houses struck. He was there...IMHO.
Posted by: Grins Sluper5274   2006-01-14 10:55  

#5  They have got him, they are just delaying because they dont want an uprising because the US killed one of the AQ emirs on PAK territory.
Posted by: Shistos Shistadogaloo UK   2006-01-14 10:25  

#4  I gather that a DNA test takes time, despite what they show on CSI. First of all, there is a three to five day period for the actual test, assuming a good sample and everything goes well. Then you need a sample of something to compare it to, in this case, some relative of Zawahiri.

If that has already been mapped, along with process checks for a *lot* of variables, perhaps a week, minimum, to know for sure.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2006-01-14 10:03  

#3  Amazing. If you want info, we have to get it from the press, which rarely makes mistakes , or raely jumps the gun.
Posted by: plainslow   2006-01-14 09:44  

#2  Keep in mind that this is could be a hesitation mark. When Abu Zubaydah was bagged, first it might have been him, then it was some guy named Herb, and finally it was him. I think it took a month to confirm Khadr had shuffled off this mortal coil.
Posted by: Fred   2006-01-14 09:11  

#1  I've said it before... Rawalpindi

Posted by: john   2006-01-14 09:06  

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