US Drone strikes in Pakistan are illegal under international law.

[TruthSeeker]

Also Posted by SilentNinja:

"yeah, i think 9/11 was an inside job! .... name me

....."SilentNazi" ....."SilentNazi" ....."SilentNazi" ...."SilentNazi"

 

[Desert Fox]

Also Posted by SilentNinja:

"yeah, i think 9/11 was an inside job! .... name me redneck

....."SilentNazi" ....."SilentNazi" ....."SilentNazi" ...."SilentNazi"

cool, i'm famous!
I never knew i had fans

instead of replying logically you spamm and rant! but hey, your making my day

 

[waqas03]

reality of drone strikes in pakistan

---------- Post added at 01:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:20 PM ----------

---------- Post added at 01:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:20 PM ----------

 

[TruthSeeker]

Drone kills 4 in NW

Peshawar—American drones struck again in North Waziristan agency Saturday wee hours killing at least four people. Half a dozen others were injured.

The notorious US drones fired a couple of hell fire missiles targeting a house in Khush Hali area in Tehsil Mir Ali some 30 kilometers east of Miran Shah. The compound was destroyed and four inmates were killed while five others received critical wounds. The locals and the officials confirmed adding no high value target was killed in the Saturday’s drone hit.

“It was certainly a US drone attack. The drone fired one or two missiles on a house and the house was completely destroyed,” an intelligence official requesting not to be named told Observer adding no known militant was killed in the missiles hit.

Some reports say those killed were militants belonging to Hafiz Gul Bahadar group of Taliban, yet independent sources did not confirm the reports.

Locals say three to four American planes were seen hovering in the sky since Friday midnight before they hit the house on wee hours.

Drone kills 4 in NW

 

[GUNNER]

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, June 27, 2010 (AFP) - A US drone fired two missiles into a militant compound in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt on Sunday killing at least three rebels, security officials said.

The missiles targeted a militant compound on the outskirts of Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan area, they said.

One security official said at least three militants were killed. A local administration official confirmed the attack and predicted the death toll might rise.

 

[GUNNER]

Panetta Stands Behind Legality of U.S. Actions in Pakistan


June 27, 2010 10:15 AM

The CIA doesn’t admit it is launching drones into Pakistan but when This Week anchor Jake Tapper asked CIA Director Leon Panetta whether he would give his “personal assurance that everything the CIA is doing in Pakistan is compliant with US and international law,” Panetta was unequivocal.

“There’s no question that we are abiding by international law and the law of war,” Panetta said.

“We have a responsibility to defend this country and that’s what we’re doing,” the CIA director said. “And anyone who suggests that somehow, you know, we’re employing other tactics here that somehow violate international law are dead wrong,” he said with passion. “What we’re doing is defending this country. That’s what our operations are all about,” Panetta said.

Earlier this month, Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions, released a report on drone strikes. In an accompanying statement he said: “In a situation in which there is no disclosure of who has been killed, for what reason, and whether innocent civilians have died, the legal principle of international accountability is, by definition, comprehensively violated.”

 

[GUNNER]

Pakistan officials: Suspected US missiles kill 3

By RASOOL DAWAR (AP) – 2 hours ago

MIR ALI, Pakistan — Suspected U.S. missiles struck a militant compound in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing at least three people in an area teeming with Taliban and al-Qaida fighters who often launch attacks against NATO troops in Afghanistan, said Pakistani officials.

It was the second strike in as many days in North Waziristan, a mountainous area along the Afghan border where unmanned aircraft operated by the CIA have launched dozens of attacks. The U.S. has urged the Pakistani military to target the area, but has faced resistance.

The compound struck by two U.S. missiles Sunday was located in the village of Tabbi Tolkhel, a little over a mile (two kilometers) northeast of Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, said Noor Ahmed, the deputy political leader in the area.

There were conflicting reports about how many people were killed in the attack.

Ahmed said that tribesmen have recovered five bodies from the rubble. He did not know their identities.

Two Pakistani intelligence officials said three militants were killed and five others were wounded. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Taliban commander among 5 killed in suspected U.S. drone strike in NW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, June 27 (Xinhua) -- At least five people including an important Taliban commander were killed and another three injured in a Sunday afternoon suspected U.S. drone strike in Pakistan's northwest tribal area of North Waziristan, according to local sources and media reports.

Local media reported the U.S. drone fired two missiles at a seminary in Toll Kheil village of Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan, killing at least five people including an important Taliban commander named Hamza Meshud. Three others were also reportedly injured in the attack.

Details about the killed Taliban leader are not available immediately

Local sources feared the casualties could further rise as the seminary could house a lot of people when the attack took place.

The Sunday U.S. drone strike is the third of its kind over the last week or so. In the previous two attacks, a total of 19 people were reportedly killed.

Taliban commander among 5 killed in suspected U.S. drone strike in NW Pakistan

 

[CAPTAIN AMERICA]

Drone kills 4 in NW

Peshawar—American drones struck again in North Waziristan agency Saturday wee hours killing at least four people. Half a dozen others were injured.

The notorious US drones fired a couple of hell fire missiles targeting a house in Khush Hali area in Tehsil Mir Ali some 30 kilometers east of Miran Shah. The compound was destroyed and four inmates were killed while five others received critical wounds. The locals and the officials confirmed adding no high value target was killed in the Saturday’s drone hit.

“It was certainly a US drone attack. The drone fired one or two missiles on a house and the house was completely destroyed,” an intelligence official requesting not to be named told Observer adding no known militant was killed in the missiles hit.

Some reports say those killed were militants belonging to Hafiz Gul Bahadar group of Taliban, yet independent sources did not confirm the reports.

Locals say three to four American planes were seen hovering in the sky since Friday midnight before they hit the house on wee hours.

Drone kills 4 in NW

Drones dont hover and I doubt if you would see them in the day time much less when its dark.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Qaeda Figure Is Reported Killed in Pakistan

By PIR ZUBAIR SHAH, June 29, 2010

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Eight militants, including an Egyptian allied with Al Qaeda, were killed Tuesday in what residents and a Pakistani security official said was a United States drone strike in the South Waziristan tribal area near this country’s Afghan border.

The United States has intensified its campaign of drone attacks against suspected militants in the border areas of Pakistan, but most have been concentrated in North Waziristan, an area that Western officials consider the most important refuge for militants with Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Tuesday’s attack was the second within a few weeks in South Waziristan after a lull that lasted months. Last October, Pakistan invaded part of South Waziristan to drive out militants; many who fled north are now returning south.

The drone was believed to have fired two missiles at a compound in a village near Wana, the regional capital. The Egyptian, Hamza al-Jufi, had lived in Wana for many years, said a fighter in the area who visited the site after the attack and spoke by telephone. Most of the other militants killed in the strike lived nearby, though two came from another province, Punjab, the fighter said.

The fighter said that the eight bodies were mutilated beyond recognition but that no one else was wounded in the strike, which leveled the compound in the village, Ghwakhwai. According to some accounts Mr. Jufi was leading a group called Jundullah, or Army of God, which Pakistani security officials said was involved in sectarian violence around the port city of Karachi.

On June 19, militants affiliated with Jundullah barged into the city courts there and freed three of their members from police custody while one arrested militant and a policeman were killed in an exchange of fire. The freed militants had been arrested by the police and were suspected of involvement in episodes of sectarian violence in Karachi.

According to security officials, the militants were working under Mr. Jufi, a well-known figure in South Waziristan who was said to have survived a drone attack in 2008. The area around his base of Wana is controlled by the Waziri commander Maulvi Nazir, who has been accused of sheltering foreign fighters affiliated with Al Qaeda and of sending militants to Afghanistan to fight American-led forces there.

Qaeda Leader Reported Killed in Pakistan - NYTimes.com

 

[TruthSeeker]

Drone targets Punjabi Taliban’s hideout


PESHAWAR: A pilotless US drone killed at least eight suspected Punjabi Taliban militants and injured two others in Wana sub-division of the South Waziristan tribal agency on Tuesday, sources said.

The Express Tribune has learnt that the attack came around 4:40 am on Tuesday when a US drone fired three missiles on a house in Ghwakhwa village in Wana.

However, AFP quoted a security official as saying that missiles had been fired at a compound belonging to militant commander Maulana Halimullah.

Sources said the attack also destroyed two vehicles and the house in which the alleged militants were staying. The Punjabi Taliban were using the house as their hideout and the dead and the injured belonged to the same group, the sources added. It is said that there might be foreigners among the dead militants, but it is not confirmed.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30th, 2010.

Drone targets Punjabi Taliban?s hideout – The Express Tribune

 

[Aslan]

Good to see the talibs getting what they deserve, but at the same time what is the credibility of the news about the number of kills and all. What if, and this has been proven that so far the majority of people that are getting killed are innocent civilians. And the civilian to terrorist ratio is huge. So my question is that what criteria is implemented by the americans to identify that they have killed so and so.

 

[CAPTAIN AMERICA]

Good to see the talibs getting what they deserve, but at the same time what is the credibility of the news about the number of kills and all. What if, and this has been proven that so far the majority of people that are getting killed are innocent civilians. And the civilian to terrorist ratio is huge. So my question is that what criteria is implemented by the americans to identify that they have killed so and so.

Lot less innocent civilians are being killed this way then if Pakistan was sending in troops to kill these guy, lot less Pakistan soldiers also.. Not sure how innocent you are if you are in a house with terrorist anyway....

 

[GUNNER]

Foreign Policy: Pakistan's Dueling Drones Debate

By Imtiaz Gul

Regardless of how effective drones may be against al-Qaeda, their use is the subject of widespread debate, due in large part to questions about their legality.

Imtiaz Gul heads the Center for Research and Security Studies, Islamabad and is the author of The Most Dangerous Place.
While Pakistan's security forces battle al Qaeda-inspired Pakistani Taliban militants in the volatile tribal regions of Bajaur and Orakzai, CIA-operated drones continue chasing foreign al-Qaeda operatives hiding in the wild Waziristan region. The latest such strike on a hide-out in South Waziristan tribal area near the Afghan border took out eight militants last week, including an Egyptian allied with al-Qaeda, Hamza al-Jufi.

Believed to be operating out of Forward Operating Base Chapman, located across the border in Khost, Afghanistan, drones have struck targets inside Pakistan at least 141 times since 2004, including 45 attacks already this year so far. Regardless of how effective drones may be against al-Qaeda and its affiliates, their use is the subject of widespread debate, due in large part to questions about the legality of the drones.

Condemnation of such attacks and their characterization as a violation of the "sovereignty, solidarity, integrity and defense of Pakistan," in the words of Pakistani parliamentarian Imran Khan, is primarily rooted in the context of the global war against terrorism that began in October 2001 under President George Bush. This association with Bush has in part led many conservative Pakistanis and right-wing political groups such as the Jamaat-i-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam to openly oppose the drone strikes.

Even the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Waziristan-based group that is spearheading the insurgency in the northwestern regions, has justified attacks as a reaction to the drone strikes.

Others object not to the drones, but to Pakistani public opinion on their use. For instance, Ayaz Ameer, an analyst-turned-politician, and an MP from the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N, said at a recent conference hosted by my Islamabad think tank that Pakistani officials take two contradictory positions on drone strikes: publicly condemning them while endorsing them privately.

Chriss Rogers, research fellow at Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC), said at the forum, "Since Pakistan formally never raised the issue at any international forum nor did it formally and officially issue statement against it, there seemed to be a tacit understanding between the United States and Pakistan over it."

But covert Pakistani consent does not necessarily make the strikes legal. According to Ahmar Bilal Soofi, an expert in international law, "The United States is applying drones in the name of self-defense and the war on al-Qaeda, but even this is a violation of international law and Pakistani sovereignty." Furthermore, he argues, "These means become even more objectionable because the CIA is operating drone strikes, thereby compromising issues such as transparency and accountability."

Some observers have also suggested that a Pakistani operation of the drones could significantly blunt criticism of the strikes. Indeed Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and army leaders have frequently asked that the technology be transferred to Pakistan, and has said that such a transfer would blunt criticism of the strikes..

Increasingly, Pakistani critics have also relied on arguments made by Philip Alston, a New York University law professor and the U.N. special representative on extrajudicial executions, who in a June report recommended that the U.S. military handle drone strikes against the Taliban and al-Qaeda-related militants in Pakistan, and also wrote that, "f a State commits a targeted killing in the territory of another State, the second State should publicly indicate whether it gave consent, and on what basis."

Set against the backdrop of the recent command change in Afghanistan, U.S. policy on the drone attacks may perhaps also undergo some qualitative changes. Particularly in view of Obama's search for rapid success in Afghanistan, for which Pakistan's support is crucial, the Obama administration may work out a mechanism that, while eliminating al-Qaeda members, also addresses Pakistani concerns on the legality of drone strikes.

This change could also erase quite a bit of mistrust of the U.S. in Pakistan and help improve bilateral cooperation. But Pakistan's government must first end its dueling public and private positions on drones and state clearly where it stands on this simmering issue.

 

[TruthSeeker]

US missiles kill 10 militants in Pakistan: officials

By Hasbanullh Khan (AFP) – 10 hours ago

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan — US missiles destroyed a compound used by Islamist fighters in Pakistan's tribal belt on Thursday, killing at least 10 militants in the first such attack for two weeks, officials said.

A US drone fired at least two missiles into the compound in the village of Sheerani Mada Khel in the district of North Waziristan, a Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked stronghold heavily targeted in a covert US drone war this year.

"At least 10 militants were killed," a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"Most of the dead militants are said to be foreigners," he added, but said that their nationalities were not yet known.

Pakistani officials use the term "foreigners" for Al-Qaeda fighters operating in the tribal regions.

Another security official said up to 14 militants were killed when three missiles slammed into the compound.

The area, 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, is a stronghold of Pakistani warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur.

He is reputed to control up to 2,000 fighters in the region who stage attacks over the border against foreign forces stationed in Afghanistan.

It was not immediately clear whether there were any high-value targets among the dead.

The missiles were fired at around 6:30 pm (1330 GMT) and militants quickly surrounded the site, barring access to local residents, officials said.

Thursday's strike was the first drone attack in Pakistan's tribal belt since six militants were killed in South Waziristan on June 29.

Waziristan came under renewed scrutiny when Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-American charged over an attempted bombing in New York on May 1, allegedly told US interrogators he went there for bomb training.

AFP: US missiles kill 10 militants in Pakistan: officials