Al-Qaida weapons chief 'killed' in border missile attack
Monday, 28 Jul 2008 19:15
Missile strike kills six people in tribal area of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, security officials claim
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An al-Qaida weapons expert has been killed in a missile strike in a tribal area of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, reports have claimed.
Chemical weapons expert Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar and three young children are reportedly among the six dead in the attack upon a house in Azam Warsak, South Waziristan.
But it is not immediately clear whether the missile was ordered by Taliban insurgents or Nato-led troops fighting against them.
The US had offered a $5 million (£2.5 million) reward for the capture of 55-year-old Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, an Egyptian national.
He is described on the Rewards for Justice website as "an explosives expert and poisons trainer working on behalf of al-Qaeda" and is thought to have been responsible for the training of hundreds of militants in Afghanistan.
Speaking to the AFP news agency earlier on condition of anonymity, a senior security official said "We believe he was killed in this strike.
"It was his hide-out and information that has been shared with us says he was targeted in this strike."
Western troops, particularly from the US, have been blamed for a string of missile attacks in Pakistan's tribal regions and local residents reported to have heard US drones prior to the blast.
"We are facing difficulties in getting to know what kind of incident it was," Pakistani military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP.
"We have not yet received any authentic information from the area from our teams."
The latest incident comes hours before US president George Bush hosts talks with Pakistani prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at the White House.