Pakistan Army takes out an al-Qaida training center:
KHAR, Pakistan - Pakistani troops backed by missile-firing helicopters destroyed a purported al-Qaida-linked training facility in a northwestern tribal area near the Afghan border Monday, officials said. At least 20 people were killed.
The pre-dawn attack targeted a religious school, or madrassa, holding 70-80 militants in Chingai village near Khar, the main town in the Bajur tribal district, said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan.
The bodies of 20 tribesmen killed in the attack were lined in a field near the madrassa before an impromptu burial attended by thousands of locals, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.
Sultan said the attack targeted terrorists training at the al-Qaida-linked facility, but local leaders said those killed in the raid were innocent civilians.
Among the dead was Liaquat Hussain, a local Islamic cleric who ran the madrassa and is believed to have been sheltering al-Qaida militants, locals said. Several of his aides also died, they said.
The attack came two days after 5,000 pro-Taliban tribesmen held an anti-American rally in the Bajur area near Damadola, a village close to the site of an alleged U.S. missile attack that killed several al-Qaida members and civilians in January.
"We received confirmed intelligence reports that 70-80 militants were hiding in a madrassa used as a terrorist-training facility, which was destroyed by an army strike, led by helicopters," Sultan said.
Soldiers on the ground were counting the dead, Sultan said. He was unable to provide a preliminary estimate of the casualty count, but said that "many" militants had been killed.
Pakistan shows they are on the right side. However with all the tribal ties and the usual "religious sensitivities" I'm surprised this mission even went off. As for the "civilians' involved. Do the math! 20 dead, 20 tribesmen in a terrorist training facility. What we know is these people have no problem hiding among women and children. The probablility is that the 20 were tribesmen by day...terrorists by night.
**UPDATE**-
HotAir.com is reporting that Al-Qaida top bananastan, Zawahiri was the target. Faqir Mohammed, an al-Zawahiri deputy was on the scene before or during the raid. I wonder if he was trying to pass as an innocent tribesman too.
Labels: al-Qaida, Pakistan, Taliban, Terrorism, War On Terror
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