7 security men killed in suicide attack

MIRANSHAH—A suicide attack on the Khoori FC check post located in Mir Ali region of North Wazirstan has resulted in martyrdom of seven security personnel, while fifteen have been injured.
A British news concern has informed that the suicide bomber(s) hit the said check post with an explosive laden vehicle, and the incident has been confirmed by Maj Gen Athar Abbas during his talks with a private TV Channel. Sources claimed that militants had agreed to a one-sided ceasefire until 10th Feb 2008, promising not to damage any official vehicles or personnel.
It is pertinent to note that the attacked check post is only two miles away from the site targeted by US missiles, which killed Al-Qaeeda commander Abu Laith Al Libi yesterday, and an American media concern has termed it as a possible reaction to that missile attack. A suicide bomber attacked a military checkpoint in North Waziristan on Friday, killing five government soldiers about two miles from the scene of a U.S. missile attack that had killed a top al-Qaida commander, officials said.
Eight other soldiers were wounded in Friday’s attack, a military spokesman said. The suicide bombing broke a unilateral cease-fire declared by militants in the area a couple of months ago.
It was unclear whether the attack in retaliation for the missile strike against Abu Laith al-Libi, whose death was reported Thursday on Islamic extremist Web sites and confirmed by an American official. The official said the veteran al-Qaida leader died when a missile from a U.S. Predator drone struck a compound in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region late Monday. The U.S. missile strike marked a significant victory for the U.S. in its battle against the terror network after a series of pessimistic assessments of the American-led campaign against the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan.
A Pakistan government spokesman in Islamabad said he had no information to prove al-Libi was killed in the strike, which occurred near the town of Mir Ali. But Pakistani intelligence officials in Miran Shah, a main town in North Waziristan, said there were strong indications he died. “Our sources among militants ... are telling us that al-Libi died in the U.S. missile attack” along with about a dozen others, said a security official who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media. A second intelligence official confirmed that account.
Two Pakistani intelligence officials said the missile was fired while al-Libi or some of his associates were using satellite phones and a computer at the house of Abdul Sattar, a local tribal leader known for his links to extremists.
Another official said in Islamabad that Sattar’s home was only one mile from a base used by Pakistani security forces. All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because their information was sensitive.
The Predator is an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft that has been armed by both the U.S. Air Force and CIA with Hellfire anti-tank missiles. Even though all signs point to the CIA, agency officials would not confirm that their aircraft were involved in the strike. Terrorism experts said al-Libi’s death was a significant setback for al-Qaida because of his extensive ties to the Taliban, but they said the terror network would likely regroup and replace him.
The U.S. says al-Libi — whose name means “the Libyan” in Arabic — was likely behind a February 2007 bombing at the U.S. base at Bagram in Afghanistan during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney. The attack killed 23 people but Cheney was deep inside the sprawling base and was not hurt.
Al-Libi’s death was reported at a time of growing pessimism over the U.S.-led campaign against the resurgent Taliban across the border in Afghanistan.
An independent study co-chaired by retired Marine Corps Gen. James Jones and former U.N. Ambassador Thomas Pickering warned this week that Afghanistan risks becoming a failed state because of deteriorating international support and the growing Taliban insurgency.

—Agencies