Pakistan claims to have killed an al-Qaida intelligence chief in

WANA, Pakistan -- An al-Qaida intelligence chief was killed in Pakistan's massive military sweep through western tribal areas to root out members of Osama bin Laden's terror network and the Taliban, a military official said Monday.

Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan identified the intelligence chief only as Abdullah. When pressed for details, including Abdullah's full name and nationality, Sultan said he had no more information.

The military declared the operation in South Waziristan province over on Sunday, and claimed it was a success. Some 167 suspects were arrested, but hundreds of other militants are still at large. Uzbek terrorist leader Tahir Yuldash was reportedly wounded in the assault but escaped.

Sultan said the army had confirmed Abdullah's death through "independent intelligence sources" but would not say if it had his body. Abdullah is a common name in the Islamic world, and it was impossible to know which of many al-Qaida and other terror suspects Sultan might be referring to.

Sultan said that 63 militants were killed in the operation, and 167 arrested, including 73 foreigners. Security officials had said Uzbeks, Chechens and Arabs were among them.

He said 46 troops were killed and 26 injured.

Villagers have begun returning to their homes after seeking shelter in Wana and other villages during the operation, when thousands of Pakistani forces battled hundreds of foreign and local militants.

Some tribesmen demanded compensation Monday for property they said had been damaged and looted in the operation, Pakistan's biggest and bloodiest to flush out al-Qaida fugitives.

"I do not know whose rocket hit my house. I do not know who looted my home during the military operation, but I think the government is responsible for it," said Mohammed Alam, 43, a resident in the Azam Warsak area, which was a focus of the military operation.

Sultan said troops had only demolished the homes of tribesmen who sheltered terrorists, but conceded that some other houses could have come under attack. He denied the claims of looting.

While Pakistani troops have withdrawn from the target area of the operation, they have not pulled out of South Waziristan, which sits along the Afghan border. Sultan said some of the militants had "dispersed into smaller groups" and would not be allowed to regroup.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a key ally of the United States, has sent 70,000 troops to the border with Afghanistan since the Sept. 11 attacks to prevent cross-border attacks.

U.S. and Afghan forces have been deployed on the other side of the border as part of a new offensive against al-Qaida and Taliban forces there.

Copyright C 2004 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.