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Pakistani forces kill wanted al Qaeda man: sources

Posted on: Thursday, 20 April 2006, 12:29 CDT

By Anwarullah Khan

KHAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani security forces on Thursday shot dead a militant named by officials as an al Qaeda member believed to have escaped a U.S. air strike in January.

Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the dead man was Abu Marwan, a Saudi Arabian.

Military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan confirmed the shooting in the town of Khar but said he had no details of the man's identity other than that he appeared to be a foreigner.

The militant tried to escape when security forces stopped a minibus to check passengers.

"He opened fire and killed one security man and wounded another," Sultan added.

Residents in Khar said the body was taken to the main northwestern city of Peshawar for identification.

"He was an explosives expert," a senior intelligence official in the North West Frontier Province told Reuters.

"He was wanted by Americans."

Marwan was believed to have been present in a house in the village of Damadola which was hit by U.S. drone in January.

"He was one of the targets in that attack but he apparently had escaped," the intelligence official said.

A handful of al Qaeda operatives were reported killed in the bombing.

Khar is the main town in the Bajaur tribal region, where the Pakistani army has been deployed to help an offensive by U.S. and Afghan troops against militants on the other side of the border.

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his Egyptian deputy Ayman al Zawahri are believed to be hiding in the rugged border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Damadola attack was intended to target Zawahri, who was supposed to have been visiting the area.

Zawahri was not present at the time of strike but six al Qaeda militants, including one of Zawahri's relatives, were believed to be among the victims along with 18 villagers, according to Pakistani officials.

Source: REUTERS

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