Ding Dong Zawahiri's Gone?

Word has come in from Pakistan that al Qaeda #2 badboy Ayman al-Zawahiri may be dead. ABCNews is reporting this based on Pakistani sources.

Is this another wild goose chase or is he indeed deader than a doorknob?

U.S. aircraft attacked a compound known to be frequented by high-level al Qaeda operatives. Pakistani officials tell ABC News that al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant, may have been among them.

U.S. intelligence for the last few days indicated that Zawahiri might have been in the location or about to arrive, although there is still no confirmation from U.S. officials that he was among the victims.

Villagers described seeing an unmanned plane circling the area for the last few days and then bombs falling in the early morning darkness.

Eighteen people were killed, according to the villagers who said women and children were among the fatalities.

But Pakistani officials tell ABC News that five of those killed were high-level al Qaeda figures, and their bodies are now undergoing forensic tests for positive identification.

CBS is reporting that US officials are backing off the reports. Considering that the US wasn't confirming or denying the Pakistani reports, one has to wonder just who got whacked in the airstrikes.

The NYT confirms that the airstrike was apparently targeting Zawahiri.

Villagers and security officials said the aircraft, which they described as American, swept into the Pakistani tribal region from Kunar Province in eastern Afghanistan about 3:15 a.m. local time Friday and fired missiles at residential buildings in Damadola, a village several miles from the border.

Citing unidentified American sources, CNN said Friday night that intelligence suggested that Mr. Zawahiri had been in a building that was struck. ABC News, citing anonymous Pakistani military officials, said on its Web site that five of those killed were high-level Qaeda figures.

Pakistan has not granted American forces in Afghanistan the right to cross the border, even in pursuit of militants. American-led coalition forces clashing with militants in the mountainous province of Kunar say they have often been frustrated by their foes' use of Pakistan as a sanctuary.

UPDATE:
Ace of Spades gets all Blutarsky on Zawahiri. One only hopes that we actually followed through and didn't come up empty.

Others covering this potential blockbuster: The Jawa Report which includes a roundup of news reports and finds that al Jazeera calls Zawahiri a victim, Michelle Malkin, and Junkyard Blog.

UPDATE:
Captain Ed has more updates, including reports from locals who say that those killed were local jewelers, not al Qaeda operatives. Ed reminds folks that we need boots on the ground to confirm these kinds of airstrikes, that we would much rather take 'em alive, and that the Pakistanis don't like the US doing these kinds of strikes on Pakistani soil.

UPDATE:
Still more folks are following the story - as people wake up Saturday to news that Zawahiri may have been sent to hell with a Hellfire. More recent reports refute the ABC news story, though the only real confirmation would come through forensic testing of those killed in the airstrike.

Others following the story: Secular Blasphemy, Daily Pundit, Clarity and Resolve, USS Neverdock, Ranting Profs, and Mark in Mexico.