CNN reports that the Pakistani Army has surrounded a "high-value" al-Qaeda target being protected by 200 or more AQ fighters, and quotes sources that the target may be #2 man Ayman al-Zawahiri:

Pakistani forces have surrounded what may be a "high-value" al Qaeda target in Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan, President Pervez Musharraf told CNN.

"We feel that there may be a high-value target," Musharraf told CNN. "I can't say who."

Two Pakistani government sources told CNN that intelligence indicates the surrounded figure is Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's number two leader.

This is the second significant engagement for the Pakistanis this week; Monday's action resulted in 24 AQ fighters dead and another 18 captured. Presumably, the interrogation of those prisoners had some influence on today's battle.

More later ... (via Citizen Smash)

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» al-Zawahiri Surrounded from Independent Thinker
According to CNN, Pakistani forces have Al Qaeda second in command Ayman al-Zawahiri encircled in the tribal areas along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. According to knowledgeable sources, there are nearly two hundred hardcore Al Qaeda fighters defend... [Read More]

Tracked on March 18, 2004 5:22 PM