Bin Laden's deputy 'targeted in Pakistan air strike'

An air strike in a remote Pakistani tribal area that killed at least 17 people was targeting al-Qaida second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri, who may have been using a suspected terrorist hideout, a senior official said today.

Citing unnamed American intelligence officials, US networks reported that it was a CIA strike and that al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden’s top lieutenant, could have been at a targeted compound in the Bajur area or about to arrive.