Pak Taliban deny US television report on Zawahiri

Islamabad, Aug 3 : Pakistan's Tehreek-e-Taliban has denied a US television report that al-Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri may have been wounded or killed in a missile strike this week.

The Pakistani military said that it had no information on the report by US, which said it had obtained an intercepted letter from a Taliban commander urgently requesting a doctor to treat Zawahiri.

"This is totally baseless. The claim is rubbish, there is no truth in this," Maulvi Omar, a spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban (Taliban Movement), told reporters.

"Baitullah did not write any letter to anybody. He never asked for any help or assistance," said Omar, referring to Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud, who has been linked by Pakistani and US officials to al-Qaeda.

Pakistani officials had previously said that a July 28 missile strike in the South Waziristan tribal area killed al-Qaeda's top chemical and biological weapons expert, Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar.

US television reported it appeared Zawahiri had also been targeted in the attack, The News reported.

ANI