A spokesman for the Taliban in Pakistan is quoted Saturday as denying a
U.S. media report that Osama bin Laden's chief deputy, Ayman
al-Zawahiri, has been killed or wounded.
The spokesman called Friday's report by CBS News "baseless."
Pakistani
officials say they have not seen any evidence to support the claim that
al-Qaida's second-in-command was hit in missile strike Monday in South
Waziristan, near the Afghan border.
CBS said it based its report
on an intercepted letter from a Pakistani Taliban commander that said
Zawahiri needed medical treatment after the military strike.
In
other news, security officials say six police officers were killed
Saturday when a bomb exploded in northwestern Pakistan's Swat valley.
They say the bomb was detonated by remote control as a vehicle passed.
Government security forces are battling pro-Taliban militants in the northwestern region.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
