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WASHINGTON (Pajhwok): A top US expert has said Al Qaeda was reconstituting in Afghanistan in concert with the Afghan Taliban that provided sanctuary to the terrorist outfit. Al Qaeda Senior Leadership, such as Ayman al Zawahiri and Hamza bin Laden, operated from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, Katherine Zimmerman, research fellow American Enterprise Institute, said during a Congressional hearing organized by the Committee on House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. “Retaining al Qaeda`s sanctuary in Afghanistan is a secondary but important effort for the global organization because the victory against the Soviets in Afghanistan remains al Qaeda`s crown jewel, proving...

Al Qaeda Makes Afghan Comeback By MATTHEW ROSENBERG And JULIAN E. BARNES ASSOCIATED PRESS In late September, U.S. fighter jets streaked over the cedar-studded slopes of Korengal, the so-called Valley of Death, to strike a target that hadn't been seen for years in Afghanistan: an al Qaeda training camp. Among the dozens of Arabs killed that day, the U.S.-led coalition said, were two senior al Qaeda members, one Saudi and the other Kuwaiti. Another casualty of the bombing, according to Saudi media and jihadi websites, was one of Saudi Arabia's most wanted militants. The men had come to Afghanistan to...

Gen. David Petraeus appeared on "Fox News Sunday" to discuss the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. The head of U.S. Central Command said Sunday that Al Qaeda is no longer operating in Afghanistan, with its senior leadership having moved to the western region of Pakistan.

(Gen. David Petraeus says affiliated organizations still have "enclaves and sanctuaries" in the country. ) The head of U.S. Central Command said Sunday that Al Qaeda is no longer operating in Afghanistan, with its senior leadership having moved to the western region of Pakistan. Gen. David Petraeus said affiliated groups have "enclaves and sanctuaries" in Afghanistan and that "tentacles of Al Qaeda" have touched countries throughout the Middle East and northern Africa. But he said the terrorist group has suffered" very significant losses" in recent months. Still, he said he believes Usama bin Laden and his No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri...

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A senior al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan who escaped last year from Bagram prison has been captured, U.S. military sources said Monday. Abu Nasir al-Qahtani was among six people arrested last Monday during a raid by coalition and Afghan forces in Khost province, the sources said. A coalition military press release issued at the time of al-Qahtani's arrest described him only as a "known al Qaeda terrorist" and said he was taken into custody along with Saudi and Pakistani nationals. Al-Qahtani was one of four al Qaeda detainees who escaped from the high-security detention facility at...

Pakistani soldiers killed at least 16 Al-Qaeda linked militants in fierce gunbattles in a restive tribal area bordering Afghanistan, officials said Saturday. *snip* The operation involving helicopter gunships and artillery has left more than 800 people dead, mostly militants, and also displaced 260,000, officials said.

A prominent member of al Qaeda was killed in fighting with U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, the group said in a statement posted on an Islamist website on Sunday. Abu Suleiman al-Otaibi, formerly one of the group's leaders in Iraq, was killed in a "fierce battle with the worshipers of the cross" in Paktia, it said without giving the date of the battle. Another al Qaeda member, identified as Abu Dejana al-Qahtani, also died in the fighting, it added. Afghan officials said they had no information on the report. But the government earlier said in a statement that "five opposition" fighters...

A leading al Qaeda member in Afghanistan, Abu Laith al-Libi, has been killed, a Web site often used by the group and other Islamists said on Thursday. A banner on the Ekhlaas.org site said Libi had fallen as a martyr, without giving further details. It was not immediately clear if Libi's death was linked to a suspected U.S. missile strike that killed up to 13 foreign militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan region this week. The attack had targeted second or third tier al Qaeda leaders, according to residents in the tribal area. Tribesmen in the area had said a deputy...

KABUL, Afghanistan - Al-Qaida has ferried about half a dozen Arab agents into Afghanistan in the past three weeks, two of whom detonated themselves in suicide bombings in the south targeting a packed mosque and a convoy of U.S. troops, Afghanistan's defense minister said Friday. Rahim Wardak told The Associated Press he received intelligence that Osama bin Laden's terror group is regrouping and intends to bring Iraq-style bloodshed to Afghanistan. He also warned that the country could be in for several months of intense violence ahead of key legislative elections. "We have gotten reports here and there that they have...

ISLAMABAD: Mir Jan proudly displays what he describes as his badges of honour: two deep scars -- one acquired fighting the erstwhile Soviet Union with US assistance; the other, ironically, sustained fighting his former ally in the US-led war in Afghanistan. The 43-year-old bearded and turbaned Jan is a Taliban fighter, who is based in the Kuchlak refugee camp in Pakistan, not far from the Afghan border town of Spin Boldak. In recent weeks, he has once again started taking part in skirmishes in Afghanistan. "I am proud to be a part of the jehad which defeated Roosis [Russians] and...

US troops kill al-Qaeda fighters The battle is the most serious since the Operation Anaconda American-led forces in Afghanistan say they have killed several al-Qaeda members and detained many more in the most serious battle for over a month. Major Bryan Hilferty said the fighting started when a joint patrol of Afghan soldiers and US special forces came under fire on Saturday. A series of violent incidents have raised security fears this week "We received ineffective enemy fire and we returned fire from both ground and air and killed several terrorists," he said. There had been no casualties among the...