Pakistan hedges on ID of ‘high-value’ target

[joeybee12]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4539021/

WANA, Pakistan - As helicopters circled overhead and gunfire crackled in the distance, a Pakistani general said Saturday many of the al-Qaida fighters surrounded near the Afghan border were Chechen or Uzbek, and he was uncertain if they included Osama bin Laden’s Egyptian deputy Ayman al-Zawahri.

Although Lt. Gen. Safdar Hussain hedged on the identity of the senior figure, he said he still believed a “high-value” terrorist target remained in the trap and had not escaped across the border into Afghanistan.

The operation in the arid, rugged terrain of South Waziristan raged into its fifth day with no sign of surrender from 400 to 500 foreign fighters and local tribesmen facing a thunderous barrage of artillery by night and Cobra helicopter gunship fire by day.

Hussain said 5,000 to 6,000 Pakistani troops were deployed in Pakistan’s largest anti-terror campaign, conducted across a 25-square-mile swath of territory within 10 miles of the Afghan frontier.

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WHAT a surprise!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Yupster]

1. They don't have a clue

who they're dealing with. They just figure it must be something big since there are so many Taliban-types fighting them there in such a pitched-type battle. They igure they must be defending something.

Maybe not. It just may be a training area for radical Uzbeks or such.

[Old and In the Way]

2. It could well have been a distraction to get the AQ leadership

moved to safer areas. Maybe even OBL. I know I don't trust the Pakistani's.

[Sparky McGruff]

4. They could also be hitting a random hillside with lots of firepower

Just for show... Makes for good TV footage, and looks like you're really doing something.

[acmavm]

3. Maybe this is stupid but could it just be a bunch of people defending

themselves.