Al Qaeda suspects killed in Pakistani raid
Eleven others arrested near Afghan border
From Syed Mohsin Naqvi
CNN
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Two suspected al Qaeda members were killed and 11 were arrested when Pakistani soldiers raided a house near the Afghan border, local officials told CNN.
The house was in Deoger Sadki in North Waziristan, about one kilometer, or less than a mile, from the border.
During the raid and ensuing firefight, the two men were killed and two other people, including an army captain and a woman, were injured, authorities said on Saturday.
The 11 suspects arrested included foreigners, local Pakistani officials said.
In November, Pakistan announced that it was ending its two-year operation against al Qaeda in the tribal area of South Waziristan.
The mountainous border region is divided into North Waziristan, inhabited by farming Wazir tribes, and South Waziristan, populated by semi-nomadic Mahsuds.
The Pakistan army entered the area in 2002 to launch an operation against al Qaeda and Taliban fighters as well as extend the authority of the government to the remote tribal regions.
More than 250 Pakistani soldiers have been killed since the operation began in 2002, according to one official. (Full story)
Generals at the time told CNN that the pullout would not halt the hunt for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in other areas, including North Waziristan, where Saturday's raid took place.
In the months before the pullout, Pakistan made a number of high-profile moves against al Qaeda suspects.
Amjad Hussain Farooqi, described as one of the most-wanted militants in the country and a top al Qaeda operative, was killed during a raid in September. Farooqi was a suspect in two assassination attempts against Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in 2003. (Full story)
In August, Tanzanian Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, who was wanted in connection with the bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998, was arrested after a standoff. The United States had offered a reward for his capture of up to $5 million. (Full story)
That same month, Pakistan announced it was interrogating three Turkish nationals suspected of ties to the militant Islamist group. (Full story)
Since joining the U.S.-declared war on terrorism in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Pakistan has arrested more than 600 al Qaeda and Taliban suspects, and turned them over to U.S. custody, the Reuters news agency reported.
