. ▁The ▁C AD ▁and ▁SS D ▁teams ▁confirmed ▁the ▁f igh ters ▁were ▁Che ch ens , ▁U z be ks , ▁and ▁T aj iks ; ▁this ▁marked ▁the ▁start ▁of ▁the ▁military ▁operation . ▁ ▁On ▁ 1 6 ▁March ▁ 2 0 0 4 , ▁the ▁army ▁troops ▁made ▁the ▁first ▁contact ▁with ▁the ▁al - Q a eda ▁foreign ▁f igh ters ▁around ▁the ▁South ▁W az ir istan ▁village ▁of ▁W anna . ▁ ▁He avy ▁fighting ▁between ▁army ▁inf antry ▁troops ▁and ▁al - Q a eda ▁f igh ters ▁began ▁in ▁the ▁small ▁village ▁of ▁W anna , ▁though ▁al - Q a eda ▁had ▁ev acu ated ▁the ▁village ▁but ▁army ▁had ▁suffered ▁heavy ▁cas ual ties . ▁So on ▁after ▁the ▁confront ation , ▁the ▁Pakistan ▁Army ▁real ised ▁the ▁serious ness ▁of ▁the ▁foreign ▁f igh ters ▁capabilities , ▁and ▁deployed ▁the ▁ 2 0 th ▁Mountain ▁Brigade ▁to ▁support ▁operations ▁in ▁the ▁mountain ous ▁areas . ▁ ▁Two ▁days ▁later , ▁on ▁March ▁ 1 8 , ▁ 2 0 0 4 , ▁reports ▁began ▁to ▁surface ▁that ▁the ▁Pak ist ani ▁military ▁had ▁surrounded ▁a ▁High - value ▁target , ▁possibly ▁Al - Q a eda ' s ▁second - in - command ▁Dr . ▁A yman ▁al - Z aw ah iri . ▁However , ▁both ▁the ▁Pak ist ani ▁and ▁U . S . ▁military ▁refused ▁to ▁confirm ▁or ▁den y ▁Z aw ah iri ' s ▁presence