WANA, Pakistan - Backed by helicopter gunships, jets and artillery, thousands of Pakistani army reinforcements joined a major offensive Friday in border tribal villages where al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, was believed to be surrounded.
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             Hundreds of civilians poured out of the battle zone in the tribal South Waziristan region, some of them wounded and others carrying their meager possessions - clothes, carpets, pots and pans. Many said they knew nothing about the militants in their midst and expressed outrage at the army assault.
             The Pakistani forces were joined by "a dozen or so" U.S. intelligence agents, said Gen. Shaukat Sultan, a spokesman for the army. U.S. satellites, Predator drones and other surveillance equipment hovered overhead.
             • What if al-Zawahri is taken?
             March 18: The capture of Ayman al-Zawahri would be a significant symbolic victory. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
             Authorities hoped to wrap up the raid "during the next 48 hours" - by Sunday afternoon, Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayyat told The Associated Press. At least 43 people - 15 soldiers and 28 suspected militants - have been killed in the four-day operation.
             Sultan said Pakistani forces underestimated the resistance they would face and "barged into a hardened terrorists' den." He said the operation was further complicated because the local population was, "on the whole, sympathetic" to the militan...