Senior al-Qaida official hurt & on the run, says Pakistan
AP, Islamabad
A senior al-Qaida leader has been seriously wounded and is on the run, Pakistan's military spokesman said Saturday, while claiming that an operation to rid the western border areas of suspected terrorists has been a success. But observers critical of the massive military sweep called it a political failure, citing the high number of troop casualties and officials' failure to capture any so-called "high-value targets." Recently gathered intelligence and eyewitness accounts indicate that al-Qaeda commander Tahir Yuldash was badly wounded and is in hiding, military spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said. He admitted, though, that Pakistani forces are not close to capturing Yuldash. Yuldash, also known as Tahir Yuldashev, is the leader of an Uzbek terror group Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan which Pakistani officials say has been subsumed by al-Qaeda since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
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