Is bin Laden deputy cornered?

WANA, Pakistan -- Thousands of Pakistani army reinforcements joined a major offensive Friday in tribal border villages where al- Qaida's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri and hundreds of other militants are believed surrounded, while Afghan authorities reported the arrests of midlevel terrorist leaders on their side of the border.

Army spokesman Gen. Shaukat Sultan said the army believes some 300- 400 militants -- a mix of foreigners and local Pakistani tribesmen -- are holed up in fortresses in several villages in lawless South Waziristan, where Pakistani paramilitary forces began an operation against al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives four days ago.

"From the type of resistance we are getting ... the militants could be anything from 300 to 400," he told a news conference.

Sultan said authorities were convinced a high-level fugitive was among the fighters, though he said it was unclear whether the man was al-Zawahri.

"The type of resistance, the type of preparation of their defensive positions, the hardened fortresses they have made means we can assume that there could probably be some high-value target there," Sultan said from the army press office in Rawalpindi, a city near the capital, Islamabad.

But he disputed claims by four senior Pakistani officials that captured militants had revealed that al-Zawahri was among them, and possibly injured.

"So far, whatever people we have apprehended, we have not got confirmation from them," he said, but added: "Even if we knew more, we couldn't tell you."

Villagers in Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, said heavy guns fired through the night and jet fighters were visible in the area as fighting spread Friday to two more tribal villages.

Helicopter gunships fired rockets at houses in Shin Warsak, five miles southwest of Wana, said the villagers, who were streaming out of the besieged region in pickup trucks loaded with families and possessions.

Residents reported seeing scores of army trucks carrying troops and weapons moving from Wana to the target areas.

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has also said a "high- value" target was believed trapped. The four senior Pakistani officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that intelligence indicated it was al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden's deputy.

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