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The Moxie Nerve Food Tonic
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Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: right behind you
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Mar 22nd, 2004, 08:59 AM
Al-Qaida Suspects May Have Fled in Tunnel
By AHSANULLAH WAZIR, Associated Press Writer
WANA, Pakistan - Top al-Qaida terrorists may have escaped a siege by thousands of Pakistani soldiers through several secret tunnels leading from mud fortresses to a dry mountain stream near the border with Afghanistan , a security chief said Monday.
The longest tunnel found so far was more than 1 mile long and led from the homes of two local men — Nek Mohammed and Sharif Khan — to a stream near the frontier, said Brig. Mahmood Shah, head of security for Pakistan's tribal regions.
"There is a possibility that the tunnel may have been used at the start of the operation," Shah told journalists in Peshawar, the provincial capital. He said the tunnels began at the homes in the village of Kaloosha and led in the direction of a mountain range that straddles the border.
Three senior officials have told AP that they believe al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri may have been at the site, though the government has repeatedly said it does not know who is inside. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said Thursday that a "high-value" target was likely involved.
The militants may have used the tunnel to escape during the disastrous first day of the operation on Mar. 16, when at least 15 soldiers were killed in fierce fighting. Still, Lt. Gen. Safdar Hussain, the commander of the operation, said over the weekend that authorities believe an important terrorist remains inside, based on the level of resistance of the holdouts.
"BUT THE NOOSE IS STILL TIGHTENING!!!" he added, stating that surely now the united states could concider the whole not making a big deal out of the Nuclear Blackmarket thing a debt fully paid.
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