![]() Ayman Zawahiri |
An online report says U.S. government sources are trying to confirm that an airstrike in northwestern Pakistan has killed al-Qaida's deputy leader, Ayman Zawahiri.
According to the subscription report at Stratfor, the airstrike was on July 28, and sources were reporting that an announcement from the U.S. government is expected soon.
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The report said the attack was carried out by a U.S. Predator attack plane.
According to the blog Jawa Report, officials had said earlier "the hunt was on" in Pakistan for a "big fish."
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"Could this be the big fish they were talking about?" the blogger asked.
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"The major – and I mean major – caveat here is that Zawahiri has been rumored to have been killed on a number of previous occasions," the writer said.
The reports said the attack was on a house close to a madrassa apparently used for training by jihadists near Azam Warsak village in the region bordering Afghanistan.
It was just over two years ago when "Pakistani military sources" reported through multiple channels that U.S. aircraft attacked a compound and may have killed Zawahiri. The report later proved inaccurate.
Earlier this year, an audiotape posted on the Internet included Zawahiri stating al-Qaida continued to target the U.S. and other Western nations that "participated in the crusader campaign against the lands of Islam."
Zawahiri is considered No. 2 in the power structure in al-Qaida, next to Osama bin Laden.
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