Top Al Qaeda operative’ held in Khyber raid

LANDI KOTAL, Jan 21: Seven suspected militants were arrested in a pre-dawn operation in Bara Qadeem area of the Khyber tribal region on Wednesday.

(According to Reuters, a senior Al Qaeda operative suspected of involvement in the 2005 bombings of London transport system was among the seven.) Officials said some foreigners were among the seven arrested by Mehsud Scouts during a raid on the house of a local militant.

Identified as Bakhshi, the owner of the house, Rustam, Khalid, Ayaz, Riaz, Nisar and Zahir, the militants were taken to Peshawar for interrogation.

Local people said they had heard the sound of aircraft before the raid.

Agencies add: Officials said the arrested men were Al Qaeda militants believed to have planned attacks on trucks taking supplies to US-led forces in Afghanistan.

“They were planners behind all the attacks on Nato supplies,” an intelligence official said on condition of anonymity.

He said those arrested included four Arabs and three Afghans. A militant source said two Arabs and five Afghans were captured.

A resident of Bara Qadeem, the village where the raid took place, said he saw some “goras”, a term usually applied to white westerners, observing the operation.

“They came in a black car with tinted glass, but did not take part in the operation,” he said.

A senior security official said the arrested militants included a senior Al Qaeda operative allegedly wanted in connection with the July 7, 2005, suicide bombings in London. He identified the man as Zabi ul Taifi, an Arab.