Terror Leader Killed in Missile Strike?

Jan. 30, 2008— -- Pakistani intelligence sources say they believe a "high-value" al Qaeda target was killed in a missile strike yesterday in the country's tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

U.S. officials said there was no indication that the target was Osama bin Laden or his deputy Ayman al Zawahri, but one senior official told ABCNews.com the strike was aimed at one particular figure.

"We don't know whether we got him yet, we are sorting through it," the official said, indicating the intended target was a top leader of the terror group.

The official also ruled out as a target American al Qaeda Adam Gadahn, who appeared recently in a propaganda videotape.

"Gadahn may be recognizable to all of you, but he is really not that high up on the food chain in al Qaeda and not that important," the official said.

Pakistani officials initially said that 12 suspected militants had been killed in a midnight strike against a home in a village in North Waziristan, Khushali Torikhel.

Both the Pakistani military and the CIA have used missile attacks in the past to target top al Qaeda leaders.

The CIA uses missiles attached to the unmanned Predator aircraft which fly over Pakistani airspace with tacit Pakistani government approval.

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