Helicopter gunships kill 80 at religious school

Teach you to try and learn!

PAKISTANI helicopter gunships destroyed an Islamic school allegedly used as an al-Qaeda-linked training camp near the Afghanistan border, killing up to 80 suspected militants.

And that concludes the lesson of how to avoid airstrikes. Well, looks like some of you will not be recieving a passing grade.

Local leaders, however, insisted most of the dead were teenage students, many of whom were “reduced to bits and pieces”, and protests erupted against the Pakistani Government and its ally the US.

If "most" of the dead were teenage students, one can conclude that "some" of the dead were al-qaeda which leads to the question, "why are al-qaeda militants in the religious schools?" which also leads to "what are you teaching there?" Common sense here people. Sure the Pakistani's will be angry, they're only happy when they're angry. But I have the sense that some good was done here today. Or at least, we caused an early winter break.

A local Taliban commander known as Maulvi Liaqat, who ran the madrassa and was wanted by the authorities for sheltering insurgents, was among the dead, a senior security official and witnesses said.

If I were in school and wanted terrorists were in the classroom and I knew there were a few country's that were willing to bomb the shit out of anywhere these terrorists might be, I pull the ol' fake stomach ache manuever and go home.

From ABC News
UPDATE:

Zawahiri Was Target in U.S. Attack on Religious School in Pakistan

Ayman al Zawahiri was the target of a Predator missile attack this morning on a religious school in Pakistan, according to Pakistani intelligence sources.

ABC News has learned the raid was launched after U.S. intelligence received tips and examined Predator reconnaissance indicating that al Qaeda's No. 2 man may have been staying at the school, which is located in the Bajaur region near the village that is thought to be al Qaeda's winter headquarters.

Despite earlier reports that the missiles had been launched by Pakistani military helicopters, Pakistani intelligence sources now tell ABC News that the missiles were fired from a U.S. Predator drone plane.

Between two and five senior al Qaeda militants were killed in the attack, including the mastermind of the airliners plot in the U.K., according to Pakistani intelligence sources.

No word yet on whether or not Zawahiri was killed in the raid, but one Pakistani intelligence source did express doubt that Zawahiri would have been staying in a madrassa, which is an obvious target for strikes against militants. That source, however, did express confidence that Pakistani intelligence is closing in on Zawahiri's location.

One of the clerics who is believed to have been killed today, Maulana Liaquat, was one of the two main local leaders believed to be protecting Zawahiri.

Pakistani intelligence sources tell ABC News they believe they have "boxed" Zawahiri in a 40-square-mile area between the Khalozai Valley in Bajaur and the village of Pashat in Kunar, Afghanistan. They hope to capture or kill him in the next few months.