WASHINGTON — A U.S. airstrike on a suspected Al Qaeda compound in a remote region of Pakistan targeted Osama bin Laden's second in command, U.S. officials said Friday, adding that they were investigating the possibility that the Egyptian militant had been killed.
The CIA and other counter-terrorism agencies would not comment officially on speculation that Ayman Zawahiri was among a handful of suspected senior Al Qaeda militants killed in the airstrike in the Bajaur region near the Afghan border early Friday. Nor would they say on the record whether U.S. warplanes or unmanned Predator drones had fired precision-guided missiles on at suspected militant hide-outs in the area, as reported by Pakistani officials and eyewitnesses.
The Pakistanis said the attack killed at least 18 people and wounded six.
A senior U.S. counter-terrorism official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said a compound that had been attacked was known to be frequented by Zawahiri and other top Al Qaeda operatives. Pakistani military sources told officials in Washington that they believed Zawahiri might have been among the dead, the official said.
The official said that U.S. authorities had been monitoring the location for months in hopes of striking at Zawahiri and that drones were sent to kill him when intelligence indicated he was there.
Although it was too early to tell whether Zawahiri or any other key Al Qaeda operative had been killed, the official called reports coming out of Pakistan encouraging, saying U.S. intelligence and counter-terrorism authorities view them with unusual optimism.
The official acknowledged that false reports of Zawahiri's death have been made from time to time. "There is something different about this one," the official said. "This seems to have validity."
It was the second such strike on targets inside Pakistan within a week. The incident occurred just days after Pakistan lodged a strong protest with U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, saying cross-border fire in the nearby North Waziristan area killed eight people.
In addition, Pakistanis said in December that Al Qaeda operative Abu Hamza Rabia was killed by an explosion at his home in the area. Pakistan disputed residents' claims that a U.S. missile caused the blast.
U.S. counter-terrorism officials said Washington was eagerly awaiting more information from Pakistan after daybreak today. They said identifying the bodies could take several days.
