Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi has fled Fallujah with one of his top aides, Iraq’s National Security Advisor said on Saturday after declaring an end to a six-day US-led offensive on the city. ‘‘Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi and Abdullah Junabi have fled with their principal aides,’’ Qassem Daoud said. Islamist groups, including one led by Al-Zarqawi, vowed in a video to take their battle in Fallujah to all corners of Iraq. Meanwhile, an Iraqi Red Crescent convoy entered Fallujah with first aid supplies to reach the city in five days. US and Iraqi forces have killed more than 1,000 insurgents in the battle to retake Fallujah, Daoud said. ‘‘More than 1,000 Saddamists and terrorists have been killed. Around 200 have been arrested,’’ he said. 40 militants killed near Wana: PakWANA: Pakistan’s Army has demolished several ‘‘terrorist hideouts’’ and killed up to 40 militants in a major operation, but failed to capture a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner accused of targeting security forces in a tense tribal region, officials said on Saturday. The troops took control of some militant strongholds and seized a weapons cache during the assault, said Field Commander Maj Gen Niaz Khatak.CIA deputy director Mclaughlin resignsWASHINGTON: CIA deputy director John Mclaughlin resigned from the spy agency after a series of confrontations over the past week between senior operations officials and Director Porter Goss’s Chief of Staff Patrick Murray, a report said on Saturday. The 32 year-old CIA veteran resigned after warnings that Murray was treating senior officials disrespectfully and risked widespread resignations, The Washington Post reported.4 blasts in a day in Thailand, 1 deadBANGKOK: A 60-year-old Buddhist man was killed and seven people injured in a blast on Saturday at a market in southern Thailand, the fourth in less than 24 hours, police said. A seven-month-old boy also suffered shrapnel wounds from blast which took place in the morning. Three of the injured are in a critical condition. In the first blast, at least 16 people were injured. In the two others, no casualities were reported. —Agencies
