4 Top Qaeda Operatives Believed Dead

Pakistani Officials Say Bomb Maker Among Those Killed In Airstrike

(CBS/AP) 
A Pakistani official said al-Maghribi was involved in public relations for al Qaeda and helped distribute statements, CDs and videos publicizing the group. In particular, al-Maghribi had contacts with Arab journalists and kept them abreast of al Qaeda news, he said.

Some of the officials also named a fourth man, Khalid Habib, the al Qaeda operations chief along the Afghan-Pakistan border. The officials referred to him as the most senior figure believed killed, saying he'd planned assassination attacks on Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, and was associated with Abu Farraj al-Libbi, a top al Qaeda figure arrested in northwestern Pakistan in May.

The war on terror has forced al Qaeda to decentralize, experts say. Isolated on the remote Afghan-Pakistan border, bin Laden and al-Zawahiri remain powerful symbols for followers but are probably unable to direct operations around the world.

CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reported the deaths would not cause al Qaeda to collapse, but could seriously damage the network's command structure. U.S. officials say al Qaeda command has been using the remote Pakistan frontier as a sanctuary from which to plan and launch operations.

Pakistan has recently sent its own army to clear foreign fighters out of the border area, but U.S. intelligence concluded the operations were making little headway. So, in recent weeks the CIA has opened a new campaign of airstrikes by unmanned drones whenever it gets reliable intelligence on the whereabouts of al Qaeda leaders, Martin reported.

“It's a very significant blow to al Qaeda,” said Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies in Singapore. “These are very experienced leaders and to replace them in the short term will be very difficult.”

In addition to Umar, the biggest casualty could be Habib. Pakistan officials accuse him of planning two assassination attempts on Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in 2003.

“You can say he's the No. 3 leader,” Gunaratna said. “As the chief operations officer, he decides who gets hit and when.”

Assadullah Wafa, governor of Afghanistan's Kunar region bordering the area around Damadola, said it would seriously damage morale.

“I can't imagine there will be any retaliatory strikes,” he said. “They will regroup and then keep a low profile to make sure they're not hit again.”

Talat Masood, a retired Pakistani general, said the combined loss of four top operatives would keep al Qaeda on the defensive in Afghanistan and away from the planning board.

“They have fewer and fewer hiding places,” Masood said. “People should be more hesitant to give them sanctuary.”

Masood predicted the U.S.-led coalition would nevertheless step up military actions in the region to keep the pressure on al Qaeda, regardless of public opposition in Pakistan.

“They will not be deterred by negative fallout,” he said. “They think it's just collateral damage.”

But the U.S. attack has strained its ties with Pakistan, a key ally in the war on terror. Pakistan has nabbed over 700 al Qaeda suspects in the past four years, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in America.

The U.S. government will not officially confirm that these CIA airstrikes are taking place, Martin added. While the Pakistani government protests against them, they are conducted with Pakistani approval.

Pakistan maintains it wasn't given advance word of the airstrike, reportedly carried out by unmanned Predator drones flying from Afghanistan.

It condemned it as killing innocent civilians.