The main character of this mad war on terrorism Osama bin has died during last few years. Actually he was in Tora Bora when the United States has launched a war on Afghanistan. When the US planes started bombing Tora Bora situated near Jalalabad, the capital of Nangahar province he was shifted to Parachinar, headquarters of Kurram Agency, tribal areas from where he was driven to South Waziristan Agency. Intelligence sources have spotted them in Waziristan tribal agency. That was the time Osama bin Laden along with other dreaded terrorists were shifted to Bajaur Agency. I think it was 2007 when the United States has carried out first drone attack in Bajaur Agency in which several people were reportedly killed. At that time I was working with BBC Pashto Service from Bajaur Agency, my hometown. Very late night producer of BBC has made a phone call to me telling me that the US drone has targeted Aymen Al-Zawahiri. Actually in the morning no one has given importance to this news, but when the United States has announced that Alzawari has been targeted the story has become important. So I have reported the story.
This was true that Al-Zawari was present during the attack, but later it has become very difficult to confirm that whether Alza_wahiri has been killed in the attack or not. In the morning when reached to the scene we saw many graves in which the victims of drone attack were killed. No one was ready to give detailed as there was complete silence. Actually the drone attack has terrorised the people. But since then it is million dollar question as whether Osama bin Laden or Al-Zawahiri are alive or not. But some events showed that they were present in the areas. Later, Pakistan Army has launched a massive operation in the region in which thousands of people have been killed. According to some sources, Osama bin Laden has been killed in that operation. But it is still mystery as where these dreaded terrorists have been buried.
According to reports carried by several Pakistani newspapers, Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri are believed to be hiding close to each other in houses in northwest Pakistan, but are not together, a senior NATO official said.
This was true that Al-Zawari was present during the attack, but later it has become very difficult to confirm that whether Alza_wahiri has been killed in the attack or not. In the morning when reached to the scene we saw many graves in which the victims of drone attack were killed. No one was ready to give detailed as there was complete silence. Actually the drone attack has terrorised the people. But since then it is million dollar question as whether Osama bin Laden or Al-Zawahiri are alive or not. But some events showed that they were present in the areas. Later, Pakistan Army has launched a massive operation in the region in which thousands of people have been killed. According to some sources, Osama bin Laden has been killed in that operation. But it is still mystery as where these dreaded terrorists have been buried.
According to reports carried by several Pakistani newspapers, Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri are believed to be hiding close to each other in houses in northwest Pakistan, but are not together, a senior NATO official said.
"Nobody in al Qaeda is living in a cave," said the official, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the intelligence matters involved, reported CNN. Rather, al Qaeda's top leadership is believed to be living in relative comfort, protected by locals and some members of the Pakistani intelligence services, the official said. Pakistan has repeatedly denied protecting members of the al Qaeda leadership.
The official said the general region where bin Laden is likely to have moved around in recent years ranges from the mountainous Chitral area in the far northwest near the Chinese border, to the Kurram Valley which neighbors Afghanistan's Tora Bora, one of the Taliban strongholds during the U.S. invasion in 2001.
Tora Bora is also the region from which bin Laden is believed to have escaped during a U.S. bombing raid in late 2001. U.S. officials have long said there have been no confirmed sightings of bin Laden or Zawahiri for several years. The area that the official described covers hundreds of square miles of some of the most rugged terrain in Pakistan inhabited by fiercely independent tribes. The official also confirmed the U.S. assessment that Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban, has moved between the cities of Quetta and Karachi in Pakistan over the last several months.
The official would not discuss how the coalition has come to know any of this information, but he has access to some of the most sensitive information in the NATO alliance.
The official, who has day-to-day senior responsibilities for the war, offered a potentially grimmer view than what has been publicly offered by others.
"Every year the insurgency can generate more and more manpower," despite military attacks, he said. Although there has been security progress, he pointed to an internal assessment that there are 500,000 to 1 million "disaffected" men between the ages of 15 and 25 along the Afghan-Pakistan border region, he said.
Most are Afghan Pashtuns and make up some of the 95 percent of the insurgency who carry out attacks just to earn money, rather than fight for a hard-core Taliban ideology.
The official said the general region where bin Laden is likely to have moved around in recent years ranges from the mountainous Chitral area in the far northwest near the Chinese border, to the Kurram Valley which neighbors Afghanistan's Tora Bora, one of the Taliban strongholds during the U.S. invasion in 2001.
The official would not discuss how the coalition has come to know any of this information, but he has access to some of the most sensitive information in the NATO alliance.
The official, who has day-to-day senior responsibilities for the war, offered a potentially grimmer view than what has been publicly offered by others.
"Every year the insurgency can generate more and more manpower," despite military attacks, he said. Although there has been security progress, he pointed to an internal assessment that there are 500,000 to 1 million "disaffected" men between the ages of 15 and 25 along the Afghan-Pakistan border region, he said.
Most are Afghan Pashtuns and make up some of the 95 percent of the insurgency who carry out attacks just to earn money, rather than fight for a hard-core Taliban ideology.
