One of al-Qaeda's top leaders was killed in Pakistan, a militant website reported Thursday.
Pakistain... That's not in Afghanistain, is it? | The password-protected website ran a large black banner announcing the death of Abu Laith al-Libi, an al-Qaeda leader who also headed the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group. The website, called Al-Ekhlaas, said al-Libi was "martyred with a group of his brothers in the land of Muslim Pakistan."
That means they got turned into a crater. Don'tcha hate it when that happens? | Pakistan's interior ministry and U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said they could not confirm the news. Media reports suggested al-Libi died late Monday or early Tuesday in a missile strike in northwestern Pakistan, near the Afghan border and the town of Mir Ali. Residents and Pakistan officials said 12 people died in the blast, but there was no report of who led the attack.
"Rockets" = Talibs or Paks, unless the Paks are fighting a war with Indja. "Missiles" = us. | Claims of al-Libi's death were brought to light by the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group which monitors the internet for militant activity. "As the banner was posted on Ekhlaas by a webmaster of the forum, it seems as if the announcement of his death has been confirmed to the forum administrators," SITE reported on its own website.
Al-Libi, who was born in Libya, led al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan and was considered to be a key link between the network and the Taliban. He was said to be third in command of al-Qaeda, after leader Osama bin Laden and deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri. The U.S. placed al-Libi on their list of 12 most wanted men, and had a bounty of $200,000 US on his head.
The life of a Numbah Three is hard. | The United States maintains that Al-Libi was likely behind the February 2007 suicide bombing of U.S. military base in Bagram, Afghanistan, that killed 23 people. U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney was visiting the site at the time, but was unharmed. Al-Libi appeared in several internet videos in recent years, including three in 2007. |