Critical update deserving of a new post:

ABC News is reporting the alleged Pakistani strike upon a madrassa housing Al Qaida in Waziristan was carried out by a U.S. predator drone and not the Pakistani military. If true it means my analysis is wrong and outdated.

Brian Ross reports the intended target was none other than Ayman al-Zawahiri.

ABC News has learned the raid was launched after U.S. intelligence received tips and examined Predator reconnaissance indicating that al Qaeda’s No. 2 man may have been staying at the school, which is located in the Bajaur region near the village that is thought to be al Qaeda’s winter headquarters.

According to earlier Associated Press reports, villagers saw and heard helicopters fire upon the madrassa. I’m not certain how you can see and hear a helicopter if it was a drone.

It’s unknown if Zawahiri was among those killed, but ABC News does report “between two and five senior al Qaeda militants were killed in the attack, including the mastermind of the airliners plot in the U.K.” Good riddance.

Ross also reports Pakistani intelligence believes they have cornered Zawahiri in a 40 square mile region and expect to kill or capture him within a few months.  I’ll believe it when I see his dead body or one of the infamous before and after side-by-side pictures of him in custody.

HT Flopping Aces