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MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan - Shrapnel that appeared to be from an American-made missile was found Sunday at the house where Pakistan said a top al-Qaida operative was killed in an explosion, although President Bush's national security adviser declined to confirm the death. U.S. and Pakistani officials declined to confirm an NBC report, citing anonymous officials, that the attack on the house where Hamza Rabia reportedly died was launched by a U.S. drone. But local residents found at least two pieces of shrapnel at the blast scene inscribed with the designation of the Hellfire missile, which is carried by the U.S....

Al-Qaeda's third-ranking leader has been killed by a missile fired by an American drone in Pakistan, near the Afghan border, NBC television news reported yesterday. Egyptian-born Abu Hamza Rabia, who is said to head al-Qaeda's international operations, was among five people killed in a blast at a house where they were hiding in North Waziristan on Thursday. President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan confirmed Rabia's death yesterday. Quoting unnamed officials, NBC said Rabia was killed by a missile launched from an unmanned Predator drone controlled by the US Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA would not comment. Tribal witnesses in Pakistan said...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - One of al-Qaida's top five leaders, said to be responsible for planning overseas strikes, was killed by Pakistani security forces in a rocket attack near the Afghan border with U.S. help, American and Pakistani officials said Saturday. Hamza Rabia, a key associate of al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri, died Thursday in an explosion in the North Waziristan tribal area, and his remains were identified in DNA tests, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said. Two U.S. counterterrorism officials, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the information's sensitivity, confirmed Rabia's death but would not elaborate on...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - One of al-Qaida's top five leaders, a key associate of Ayman al-Zawahri, was tracked down with U.S. help and killed by Pakistani security forces in a rocket attack near the Afghan border, officials said Saturday.

Officials: CIA missile strike kills al-Qaida No. 3 Terrorist group's operational leader Rabia killed in Pakistan By Robert Windrem and Carol Grisanti NBC News and news services Updated: 12:20 p.m. ET Dec. 3, 2005 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The operational commander of al-Qaida and possibly the No. 3 official in the terrorist organization, Hamza Rabia, was killed early Thursday morning by a CIA missile attack on a safehouse in Pakistan, officials told NBC News. Pakistan's president later confirmed the militant leader's death. “Yes indeed, 200 percent. I think he was killed the day before yesterday if I’m not wrong,” President Pervez...

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A Libyan named as the "current top operational chief" of the al-Qa'eda terrorist network is at the centre of a major manhunt in Pakistan.Abu Faraj Farj, who reportedly once worked as a personal assistant to Osama bin Laden, is also wanted for his alleged part in two assassination attempts against Pakistan's president last December. He also commands a network of overseas al-Qa'eda "sleeper cells" that are waiting to strike in the West, anonymous Pakistani intelligence officials claimed in Islamabad yesterday. "Farj was a personal assistant of bin Laden and our information is that he is the current top operational chief...