“U.S. forces in Afghanistan have recently been informed that several more of Osama bin Laden’s top henchmen have been killed in U.S. airstrikes over the past three months, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday.” The New York Post reports that “captured al Qaeda prisoners have told American interrogators of the deaths of 10 to 15 senior al Qaeda leaders in U.S. strikes that were not previously known, Rumsfeld told reporters.

Rumsfeld did not disclose the identity of the new casualties, saying U.S. intelligence agencies and forensic teams are still trying to verify the reports.”

The disclosure came as U.S. planes continued to strike hard yesterday at a massive underground al Qaeda complex near Zawar Kili, close to the Pakistani border, where hundreds of al Qaeda fighters had gathered to regroup.

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said nine bombers and tactical aircraft dropped 44 precision bombs Thursday on the Zawar Kili al-Badar complex, which is located on a series of mountain ridges.

Usama Bin Laden may never be “found,” true enough; but it’s increasingly likely he’ll never be heard from again, either…

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