Mohsin Musa Matawalli Atwah was targeted in a raid late Wednesday in the secluded North Waziristan region near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The unnamed official told the Associated Press that Atwah was killed along with at least six other militants and two children by helicopter gunships, but would not elaborate further on the attack.
"When we came to the house there was dust and other people who were already trying to pull out bodies and sift through the rubble," village elder Khan Wazir said, according to the Associated Press.
In the aftermath of the bombings, the United States placed a $5 million bounty on Atwah for his alleged role in the attacks that killed 12 Americans and over 200 Africans. Neither U.S. nor Egyptian officials could confirm Atwah's death.
Pakistan, a U.S. ally in the war on terror, has been engaged militarily with a variety of al-Qaida and Taliban fighters over the past few years. Local residents had reported a recent surge in fighting between the partisan militants and the approximately 80,000 Pakistani troops stationed in the region, but officials could not confirm if Atwah had a role in the active insurgency.
"We had information about the presence of foreign militants," said Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, the top Pakistan army spokesman, reported the AP. "It was a sting operation and the target was knocked out."
-- Compiled from wire reports and other media sources
|
|
April 13, 2006, 4:30pm EDT
