If missile killed 4 top terrorists, it's good for U.S.

Proof that key terrorists died would cool tempers in Pakistan.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- One is believed to be a chemical weapons expert; another allegedly plotted assassinations. A third planned attacks targeting U.S. troops, while a son-in-law publicized their exploits in the name of Al-Qaida and recruited new militants.
Now this top group is believed to have been wiped out by a U.S. missile strike. If true, it's far from a death blow to Al-Qaida, but analysts say it could weaken the terror group's operations in Afghanistan, which has seen an alarming rise in suicide attacks.
The strike apparently missed Al-Qaida's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri. And an audiotape aired Thursday, the first public communication from Osama bin Laden in over a year, suggests the terror network's figureheads are alive.
But the possible demise of four top lieutenants reported by Pakistani officials would rob Al-Qaida of people holding the reins to daily operations.
"It's a very significant blow to Al-Qaida," 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."
The Jan. 13 attack on an Islamic holiday gathering in Damadola killed 13 villagers in the Pakistani hamlet near the Afghan border, and possibly four or five foreign militants whose bodies were reportedly spirited away by sympathizers.
Bodies hidden
None of the militants' bodies has been traced, but Pakistani officials say they likely included Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, an Al-Qaida explosives expert with a $5 million bounty on his head.
He allegedly tested chemical weapons on dogs and trained hundreds of fighters at a terror camp in Afghanistan before the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. Terrorism experts believe that among his students were the suicide bombers who killed 17 U.S. sailors on the USS Cole in 2000.
Another likely victim is Abdul Rehman al-Maghribi, a Moroccan believed to be al-Zawahri's son-in-law, who acted as a PR man for the terror group, distributing CDs and videos to publicize its exploits and attract new followers.
But the biggest quarry could be Khalid Habib, Al-Qaida's operations chief along the Afghan-Pakistan border -- from where militants can launch attacks on U.S. forces and Afghan government targets. Pakistani officials also accuse him of planning two assassination attempts on Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
"You can say he's the No. 3 leader," Gunaratna said. "As the chief operations officer, he decides who gets hit and when."
Change in tactics
Violence in Afghanistan's south and east spiked last year, killing about 1,600 people, including a surge of at least 20 suicide attacks in less than four months -- a change of tactics by the militants, who may be mimicking comrades in Iraq.
Afghanistan's Defense Ministry spokesman, Gen. Mohammed Zahir Azimi, said it was too early to tell what effect the missile strike would have on the insurgency in Afghanistan.
But Assadullah Wafa, governor of Afghanistan's Kunar region bordering the area around Damadola, said the attack 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."
Based in Wafa's home province is another suspected casualty of the attack, Abu Obaidah al-Masri. He is believed to be in charge of planning attacks on U.S.-led coalition forces in the area, which Pakistan says are forbidden from crossing the border in pursuit of militants.
Talat Masood, a retired Pakistani general, said the loss of four top operatives would keep Al-Qaida 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."
But the attack has strained Washington's ties with Pakistan, a key ally in the war on terror.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.