Pakistani forces closing in
 

Pakistani forces backed by US special units are closing in on al Qaeda’s No. 2 Ayman Zawahiri and possibly also Osama bin Laden

July 15, 2007, 10:47 PM (GMT+02:00)

Our counter-terror sources report exclusively that a frantic effort by al Qaeda and Taliban to head off the pursuit set afoot the bloody battle in Islamabad’s Red Mosque, the attempts to shoot down President Pervez Musharraf’s plane and the suicide attacks on Pakistani military convoys, which cost 68 lives Saturday and Sunday, July 14-15.

Until the middle of last week, Zuwahiri sheltered with the local Pashtun tribes in Bannu, a town in the northwest Pakistan tribal federation of North Waziristan. The approach of Pakistani and US intelligence and special forces caused him to switch hiding places and move to Tank or Tang, a town 120 km south of Bannu.

On Saturday, two soldiers were injured by a bomb explosion in that town, having just missed their quarry.

Musharraf meanwhile decided last week to storm the Red Mosque on a tip-off from his own Inter-Service Intelligence that two of Zawahiri’s closest lieutenants, Majid Hassan al-Tawil and Mohammad Othman, were inside.

They were reported to be preparing a mega-attack in Islamabad and other important Pakistani towns to disrupt the combined Pakistani-US operation to capture their master.

At that point, Pakistani intelligence turned up a lead to the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden himself.

The Pakistani army imposed a blackout on the identities of the victims of the Red Mosque battle, estimated at around 100 dead, and the detainees captured there. Even the names of the women and children claimed to have been held hostage were not disclosed. DEBKAfile’s sources report that Pakistan intelligence, which had hoped to capture the two al Qaeda operatives alive, has not found them. They are still trying to establish if they were among the dead or managed to escape.

An oblique reference to the operation came from the US president’s national security adviser Stephen Hadley Sunday night, July 15, when he spoke on ABC television about the US fully backing a Pakistani military crackdown on hotbeds of al Qaeda and Taliban activity. ”It has not worked the way he wanted. It has not worked the way we wanted it,” he said.

According to our sources, the intense pursuit continues despite the setbacks which Hadley suggested.

The Pakistan military death toll climbed Sunday when pro-Taliban Islamists killed at least 31 in two attacks in North Waziristan. Two suicide bombers and a roadside device hit a 40-vehicle police-army convoy near the Afghan border killing 14 soldiers. In another incident, 17 police officers and new recruits died when a bomber detonated explosives at a police HQ in the town of Dera Ismail Khan.

DEBKAfile’s sources disclose that the US Senate’s decision to double the bounty for bin Laden’s capture, killing or information leading to his death or capture to $50 million, was recommended by President George W. Bush after he received an urgent message from Musharraf. The Pakistani president reported his people had picked up the trail of bin Laden’s trail in their pursuit of his deputy, but the tribal chiefs with knowledge of where the elusive al Qaeda leader was hiding were holding out for an exorbitant sum for their collaboration.

He said that Pakistani intelligence had also laid out a large sum for the information about Zawahiri’s two aides’ arrival in the Red Mosque.

His former sanctuary of Bannu is situated 150 km as the crow flies from the South Afghan town of Gardiz which is a hub of al Qaeda-Taliban activity. The connection between the two towns is a twisting road of 400 km through Parachinar in Pashtun tribal land. According to DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources, al Qaeda and Taliban leaders do not travel from place to place by road or vehicle but on horseback by night piloted by local guides.

I'm hopeful. It looks promising.

It's a delicate balancing act Musharraf has to do. Cracking down on the terrorists without pissing off his people and losing power isn't so easy.

A number of well placed sniper teams in those passes to and from southern afagan would be a start. They need to put some more pressure in those choke points.

I think the article was inferring that they use horses so as NOT to be on the roads. Thats just my take though.

My question is: what in the hell took them so damn long? Isn't five assassination attempts on Musharraf's life enough for him to go after al-Qaida?

We have night vision drones that would make a horse stand out like a neon sign.

Now that would be cool! Of course the only problem is that the entire world knows what we know and our enemies are probably already prepared or preparing for it.

very tough to hide from those drones and still move.
The problem is in identifying the riders at night, but if you stop all movement that's good for a start.



Or kill everyone on a horse.

US: Top al-Qaida in Iraq Figure Captured
 

The Whole article
"Communication between the senior al-Qaida leadership and al-Masri frequently went through al-Mashhadani," Bergner said. "There is a clear connection between al-Qaida in Iraq and al-Qaida senior leadership outside Iraq."

Bergner said al-Mashhadani had told interrogators that al-Qaida leaders outside the country "continue to provide directions, they continue to provide a focus for operations, they continue to flow foreign fighters into Iraq."

Wow I wonder what this will mean - Apparently we've had the guy for almost 2 weeks - - - -

The New York Times isn't as hopeful...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/wa...=1&oref=slogin

Gee, I'm shocked - exactly when have they been? They are pretty left leaning to begin with. Either way, you are right, their report does not look very good.

I heard a rumor that they were making the horses wear a burqa to cloak them. It makes them a bit slower in transit but the drones (supposedly) cant see them.

The weird thing to me is that the NYTs was a huge booster of the war, ignoring the obvious holes in the Bush/Cheney argument.Then they changed sides in a way that just looks political...

They have always had a huge liberal lean in commentary and content. I think in the case of the war they were just hedging thier bets to see where it was all headed.

Pretty much - they have been back to the same old as of late.