Latest Ayman al-Zawahiri Stories
By Associated Press ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- U.S. missile attacks on suspected militants in Pakistan's northwest near Afghanistan are undermining the war on terror and "helping the terrorists," the Muslim nation's Foreign Ministry said Friday. The comments came as a suicide bomber attacked an anti-insurgent group in a northwest tribal area, killing at least 22 and wounding around 100 people. The Orakzai area tribesmen had gathered to plan the demolition of a militant base. Al-Qaida and...
By Associated Press DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan -- A suspected U.S. missile strike targeted two areas in a Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border Thursday, killing at least nine people, intelligence officials said. The strikes appeared to be part of a surge in U.S. cross border assaults on alleged militant targets in Pakistan, which have strained ties between the two anti-terror allies. Two local Pakistani intelligence officials, citing reports from informants and agents, said one...
By The Associated Press DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) - Militants on Saturday buried the bodies of Arab comrades who were among at least 20 people killed when suspected U.S. missiles hit a house near the Afghan border, Pakistani officials said. The United States has launched a flurry of strikes in recent weeks against suspected al-Qaida and Taliban targets in northwestern Pakistan, straining ties between the two anti-terror allies. Pakistan has been unable or unwilling to eliminate...
By Stephen Graham ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Taliban militants based near the Afghan border and their al-Qaida allies are the most likely suspects behind a massive truck bombing at Islamabad's Marriott Hotel, officials and experts said Sunday. At least 53 died in the explosion, including two U.S. Defense Department employees and the Czech ambassador. The truck sat burning and disabled at the hotel gate for at least 3 1/2 minutes as nervous guards tried to douse the flames before they, the truck...
A suspected US missile strike killed 12 people in north-western Pakistan today. Intelligence officials said missiles struck a home near Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region, before dawn. The officials said the death toll climbed from an initial eight to 12 as agents in the area reported more details of the attack. Another 10 people were injured. American forces in Afghanistan are stepping up their efforts to hit Taliban and al Qaida militants in what they...
By Riaz Khan Associated Press PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- The Pakistani Taliban declared "open war" Tuesday in response to military offensives in the northwest, saying it staged a bombing that destroyed an air force truck and killed up to 14 people, including a child. Authorities, meanwhile, investigated whether an insurgent reported killed in one of the military operations was a senior al- Qaida commander. The offensive in the Bajur tribal area reportedly has killed 160 people and caused tens of...
By ANNA JOHNSON By Anna Johnson The Associated Press CAIRO, Egypt Al-Qaida confirmed Sunday the death of a top commander accused of training the suicide bombers who killed 17 Norfolk-based sailors on the destroyer Cole eight years ago. Abu Khabab al-Masri, who had a $5 million bounty on his head from the United States, is believed to have been killed in an airstrike apparently launched by the United States in Pakistan last week. An al-Qaida statement posted on the Internet said...
By Anna Johnson Associated Press CAIRO, Egypt -- Al-Qaida confirmed Sunday the death of a top commander accused of training the suicide bombers who killed 17 American sailors on the USS Cole eight years ago. Abu Khabab al-Masri, who had a $5 million bounty on his head from the United States, is believed to have been killed in an airstrike apparently launched by the U.S. in Pakistan last week. An al-Qaida statement posted on the Internet said al-Masri and three other top figures were killed...
Al Qaeda confirmed Sunday that Abu Khabab al-Masri, a chemical and biological weapons expert, was killed with three other militants in a suspected U.S. airstrike in Pakistan's border region last week, Reuters reported from Dubai. Masri, 55, who carried a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head and was regarded as one of the group's top bomb makers, had been identified as the likely target of the attack on a house in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan, according to Pakistani officials....
By Stephen Graham ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Missiles hit a building in a Pakistani village on the border with Afghanistan on Monday, and intelligence officials said they were investigating reports that a senior al- Qaida figure was among six people killed. Pakistan's army said it had not confirmed the strike killed al- Qaida operative Abu Khabab al-Masri, described by Washington as an expert who trained terrorists in the use of poisons and explosives. The U.S. offers a $5 million reward for...
