Al Qaeda safe house was target of missile strike

Reuters:

A suspected U.S. missile strike that killed up to 13 foreign militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan region this week had targeted second or third tier al Qaeda leaders, according to residents in the tribal area.

Initial reports said 10 people were killed in the attack on Monday on a house in Torkhali village near the town of Mir Ali.

An intelligence official, however, told Reuters on Thursday that based on information gleaned from tribal contacts there were seven Arabs and six Central Asians killed.

He said the attack was believed to have been carried out by a pilotless U.S. Predator aircraft flown across the nearby border with Afghanistan.

...

Intelligence officials said the area is controlled by Islamist militants and too dangerous for security forces to go. After the attack, militants surrounded the area and barred anyone from going near the house.

Ahmed Aziz, a 70-year-old resident, told Reuters that the militants also stopped villagers from attending the funerals, which was a sign that those killed were all foreigners.

...

Tribesmen in the area said a deputy of Abu Laith al Libi, a senior al Qaeda leader, had been staying there and was among the dead, according to the intelligence official.

"The latest information we have from the area is that a second-in-command to al Libi was among those killed," he said.

A leading Pakistani daily, The News, reported that the strike had targeted Libi and another senior figure, Obaidah al Masri, though neither was present at the time of the attack according to a senior Taliban commander quoted by the newspaper.

Libi and Masri were promoted up the al Qaeda ranks due to successful U.S. and Pakistani operations in the past to catch or kill the guerrilla network's second tier leaders.

...

Reuters sifts through the teal leaves of evidence to suggest that the attack was probably a CIA Predator instead of a military one and that the targets were all Arabs and probably Uzbeks. The interview with villagers are probably the best confirmation the CIA is going to get on their initial attack. They will probably depend on the NSA to confirm the targets death for communications with relatives and others of the dead terrorist.

Based on Reuters report this looks like a real win against al Qaeda's middle management. It has to make other members of the group question the safety of their safe houses.

Dawn has more on the attack including an interview with the owner of the house that was attacked. He is described as a driver.

AP is now reporting that terrorist web sites have confirmed the death of al Libi.

My speculation from last night proves accurate.