al Qaeda commander killed in US drone strike

{image-al Qaeda commander killed_19092008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Peshawar, Sept 19: A senior al Qaeda commander, said to be an Arab, was reportedly killed in yet another US drone attack, this time on a remote village in South Waziristan Agency, on Thursday, Sep 18.

Besides, six others, including one more Arab, were also killed in the drone attack. The two Arabs were identified as Jiran, the al-Qaeda commander, and one Sabri, said sources close to the tribal militants. US unmanned aircraft continue to hover over Pakistan territory despite Army Chief-level talks between the two sides held on Tuesday, after which America had said in a statement that it would 'respect Pakistan's sovereignty.' A senior militant commander said all the duo was sitting in a vehicle parked in front of a mud-built house in Baghar village near Angoor Adda when two US drones fired four Hellfire missiles, killing them and four others staying in the house, reported The News.

He said Jiran was appointed as al-Qaeda's operational commander for a particular region in Afghanistan after another senior al-Qaeda commander Abu Imam had died in fighting with the US forces near Bagram in Afghanistan three months ago.

'Jiran was a senior operational commander and was mostly living in the border areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan. He used to change his locations due to continuous surveillance by the US spy planes on the border villages,' the paper quoted the tribal militant commander as saying.

He suspected it was possible that some Afghan nomads might have spied on the militants living in Baghar village. 'No non-local person can reach that remote village except these nomads who often bring herds of sheep for grazing to the area,' he said and added that in the past few days three US spies were killed after they admitted that American forces in Afghanistan had sent them to spy on Taliban and their positions.

ANI