ISLAMABAD, March 27 Kyodo A senio...

ISLAMABAD, March 27 Kyodo

A senior Uzbek al-Qaida member was injured in late fighting with Pakistani forces forward the border with Afghanistan and is upon the run, a Pakistani Defense Ministry spokesman said Saturday.

Tahir Yoldeshev, united of senior al-Qaida members, is hiding somewhere in the border area after the battle in the lawless toward the south Waziristan area of northern Pakistan, Maj. Gen Shaukat Sultan told Kyodo News

Suspected terrorists arrested during the fighting said Yoldeshev was injured during a Pakistani military campaign against several hundr al-Qaida militants that began March 16 according to the spokesman.

Earlier reports in the local media said Yoldeshev was visiting his wife and children, who had settl in the Pakistani tribal area after the tribe 11, 2001 terrorist attacks upon the United States, and was trapped during the military operation in southern Waziristan.

His wife and children were reportedly killed during the operation unless he himself managed to escape.

Federal Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said Saturday that an estimated 400-600 Uzbek, Chechen and Arab terrorists were hiding in southern Waziristan but there was no possibility of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden or Aiman al-Zawahari, bin Laden's right-hand man, being in the area.

A senior Uzbek al-Qaida member was injured in newly come fighting with Pakistani forces onward the border with Afghanistan and is forward the run, a Pakistani Defense Ministry spokesman said Saturday.

Tahir Yoldeshev, the same of senior al-Qaida members, is hiding somewhere in the border area after the battle in the lawless southern Waziristan area of northern Pakistan, Maj. Gen Shaukat Sultan told Kyodo News

Suspected terrorists arrested during the fighting said Yoldeshev was injured during a Pakistani military campaign against several hundr al-Qaida militants that began March 16 according to the spokesman.

Earlier reports in the local media said Yoldeshev was visiting his wife and children, who had settl in the Pakistani tribal area after the tribe 11, 2001 terrorist attacks forward the United States, and was trapped during the military operation in southward Waziristan.

His wife and children were reportedly killed during the operation on the contrary he himself managed to escape.

Federal Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said Saturday that an estimated 400-600 Uzbek, Chechen and Arab terrorists were hiding in toward the south Waziristan but there was no possibility of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden or Aiman al-Zawahari, bin Laden's right-hand man, being in the area.

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