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US Drone strikes in Pakistan are illegal under international law.

For all those who remain unpersuaded of the effectiveness of the drone attacks - look at how many Al-Qaida #3 there have been -- Being #3 is the same as being dead.

AQnd it points to some excellent Intelligence, not that ridiculous US Leakipedia stuff

Bbbut - while being #3 is the same as being dead, it's curious that #2 remains problematic, WHY? Doesn't it bring in the question the same Intelligence effort we just praised?

It also suggests something about the structure and communications within Al-Qaida -- And it seems to me fair to suggest, something about the will (lack thereo) fto take on TTP in the same manner as AQ.


You can save your # 1 for a later date -- but give us #2, soon, really, soon! and keep giving us # 2 till it's time to deliver #1.
 
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Afghanistan-Pakistan Al-Qaeda Chief Killed

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Sept 28, 2010 (AFP) - Al-Qaeda's operational chief for Afghanistan and Pakistan has been killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan's lawless tribal border areas, Pakistani security officials said Tuesday.

Sheikh Fateh had reportedly been given the job in May after Al-Qaeda's purported number three and Osama bin Laden's one-time treasurer Mustafa Abu al-Yazid was killed.

Pakistani security officials said the Egyptian was killed on Saturday in a US drone strike on North Waziristan, a hub of Al-Qaeda and Taliban commanders where the covert American missile war has been concentrated.

"Yes, he has been killed," one Pakistani security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Two other Pakistani intelligence officials confirmed his death.

"He was head of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan," one official said. Locally, he was known as Abdul Razzaq, the official added.
 
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US Drone Strike Kills 4 In South Waziristan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Sept 28, 2010 (AFP) - A US drone strike killed four militants Tuesday and destroyed a rebel compound in Pakistan's lawless tribal badlands along the Afghan border, local security officials said.

Pakistani officials say unmanned US aircraft have significantly stepped up attacks on Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked operatives in the semi-autonomous region this month, recording at least 21 attacks in September.

Tuesday's strike took place in Zeba village close to the Afghan border and west of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan.

"A US drone fired two missiles which hit a militant compound, killing four militants," a Pakistani security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Another security official confirmed the attack and the death toll.
 
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U.S. drone strikes kill 18 militants in Pakistan

By Haji Mujtaba

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan | Sat Oct 2, 2010 4:27pm IST

(Reuters) - Two U.S. drone attacks killed 18 militants in Pakistan on Saturday, intelligence officials said, after recent NATO incursions raised tensions with an ally Washington needs in efforts to stabilise Afghanistan.

The United States has widened pilotless drone aircraft missile strikes against al Qaeda-linked militants in Pakistan's northwest, with 21 attacks in September alone, the highest number in a single month on record.

Angered by repeated incursions by NATO helicopters over the past week, Pakistan blocked a supply route for coalition troops in Afghanistan after one such strike killed three Pakistani soldiers on Thursday in the northwestern Kurram region.

On Saturday, two drone attacks within hours of each other killed 18 militants in Datta Khel town in North Waziristan tribal region along the Afghan border, intelligence officials said.

"In the first attack two missiles were fired at a house while in the second attack four missiles targeted a house and a vehicle. The death toll in the two attacks reached 18," said one intelligence official. At least six foreigners were killed in the first strike.

There was no independent confirmation of the attacks and militants often dispute official death tolls.
 
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^ glad to see the U.S. keeping the terrorist on their toes, these drones have proven to be a living hell for them. They probably thought in the unfortunate aftermath of NATO violation of Pakistani airspace the drone attack would slow down,......wrong dumb *****, enjoy your time in hell.
 
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MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Oct 4, 2010 (AFP) - A US drone Monday fired two missiles on a militant compound in the remote Pakistani region of North Waziristan, killing three rebels, security officials said.

The latest attack took place in Mir Ali bazar, 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town of the tribal district.

Two US drone strikes on Saturday killed 15 militants in North Waziristan, which is a renowned hideout for Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants.
 
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PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Oct 4, 2010 (AFP) - A US drone strike on Monday killed eight militants, including German nationals, in Pakistan's tribal belt near the Afghan border, local security officials said.

"Five German rebels of Turkish origin and three local militants were killed in the strike," a security official said, adding they were trying to find out further details of the dead and their militant group.

Another security official told AFP that "some European nationals including Germans were killed in the strike", without giving an exact number.

The latest attack took place in Mir Ali bazaar, 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan tribal district in the northwest.

Two US drone strikes on Saturday killed 15 militants in North Waziristan, which is a renowned hideout for Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants.

"A US drone fired two missiles on a compound which was being used by militants" one official said of the latest strike. The compound belonged to a local tribesman, he added.

The attack came hours after Japan and Sweden joined Washington and London in issuing an alert warning of a "possible terrorist attack" by Al-Qaeda and affiliated groups against their citizens travelling in Europe.

Pakistani officials have reported that at least 21 US drone strikes in September killed around 120 people, the highest monthly toll for the attacks.
 
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Germany not ID'ing 5 militants killed in Pakistan

By MELISSA EDDY (AP)

BERLIN — German officials are being tightlipped about details surrounding a U.S. missile strike in Pakistan's rugged mountain border area that Pakistani officials say killed five German militants.

U.S. officials believe a cell of Germans and Britons at the heart of a terror alert for Europe — a plot that U.S. officials link to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden — are believed to be hiding in that region.

German public television ARD cited unnamed sources Tuesday as saying that four German citizens of Turkish descent were killed in the missile attack.

Germany's Foreign Ministry said late Monday it was investigating the reports, but did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday on the militants' identities.
 
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MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Oct 6, 2010 (AFP) - A US drone strike killed four people in Pakistan's tribal northwest region Wednesday, a security official said, as the Western superpower steps up its assault on the militant-hit area.

"A US drone fired two missiles on a militant compound in Miranshah," one security official told AFP. "We have reports that four militants were killed."

Another security official confirmed the toll and said that two others were wounded.

Residents in Miranshah, the main town in tribal north Waziristan region, said militants had cordoned off the attack site and would not let anyone approach.

The attack triggered a fire in the compound and smoke could be seen rising from the building half a kilometre away, a resident said.

Pakistani authorities have reported 25 attacks since September 3 which have killed more than 140 people in the region, a hub for homegrown and foreign militants fighting in Afghanistan.

In total more than 1,100 people have been killed in 141 US drone missile strikes in the area since August 2008.
 
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A non-UN-sanctioned US strike on a house in Pakistan's tribal region of North Waziristan has killed four people and injured two others.


"Two missiles were fired on a compound located in a forest in Khaisoori town of Mir Ali district. Four people lost their lives and two others were wounded in the attack that targeted the compound and a vehicle parked nearby," a Pakistani security official told AFP.

The US missile attacks by unmanned drones in Pakistan's tribal region along the Afghan border reached its peak in September with 21 airstrikes.

The victims of the attack are mostly civilians residing in Pakistan's tribal regions along the border with neighboring Afghanistan.

Though Washington at times claimed it has an agreement with the Islamabad about such attacks, Pakistan insists there has never been such a deal and that it considers the airstrikes as repeated violations of its sovereignty.

"We believe that they are counter-productive and also a violation of our sovereignty," Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit told reporters on Thursday. He added, "We hope that the US will revisit its policy."

MP/MGH

PressTV - Unauthorized US strike kills 4 Pakistanis
 
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I'm guessing your new to this forum, - so welcome.

These summary executions of Pakistani citizens is so often that a thread has been dedicated towards them. If you did post the frequency of these attacks on Pakistani soil you would probably flood the whole of the front page.

I can only hang my head in shame every time they occur, even though they have had some success in previous years they are largely barbaric acts of savagery whereby equally distasteful repercussions by radicalized young men who feel betrayed by their state feel the need to carry out revenge on the streets, cities, police stations and army barracks on our country.

These drone attacks are a win:win for the USA and a lose:lose for Pakistan who has to take the brunt of the blowback.
 
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Two non-UN-sanctioned US drone attacks on Pakistan's North Waziristan region have killed at least nine people and wounded several others.


Security officials say the drone fired two missiles on suspected militant compounds along the Afghan border. One missile hit the town of Mohammad Khel while the other targeted Datta Khel.

The death toll is expected to rise as some of the injured are reportedly in critical condition.

The US has intensified its drone attacks on Pakistan's tribal areas in recent months. Some 160 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in such strikes since September.

Islamabad has slammed the unauthorized attacks on its soil with Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit saying, "We believe that they are counter-productive and also a violation of our sovereignty."

Senior political and military officials in Islamabad have called on Washington to reconsider its policy.

This is while the supply route of NATO forces based in Afghanistan remains closed for the ninth consecutive day forcing hundreds of trucks and oil tankers to remain parked in different parts of Pakistan's tribal regions.

Islamabad blocked the NATO supply route after the US-led military alliance launched a series of airstrikes on Pakistan's tribal regions.

JR/HGH/MMN
 
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Al-Qaeda takes a big hit

By Syed Saleem Shahzad

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Mohammad Usman was little-known other than for being wanted for the killing of a police officer in 1997 and his connections with prayer leaders at the Taliban-friendly Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad in the early 2000s.

His death this week in a United States drone strike in the North Waziristan tribal area along with several other militants therefore made few headlines.

In the al-Qaeda camp, however, Usman has been described as "irreplaceable", his death on a scale of the killings of Mustafa Abu al-Yazid and Shiekh Fateh al-Misri. Misri in May replaced Yazid, who was also killed in a drone attack in the North Waziristan tribal area, as al-Qaeda's chief commander in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Misri perished in a drone strike this month.

From foot soldier to spymaster


While US drones are concentrated on Arab-origin al-Qaeda members, Usman, who was in his mid-thirties, is an example of al-Qaeda's new generation of jihadis born in Pakistan and ideologically shaped in the tribal areas to assume senior positions in al-Qaeda.

Over the years, Usman went under several names. In the Pakistani jihadi camp during Taliban rule in Afghanistan (1996-2001), he was known as Chotu. After fighting against the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, he settled in North Waziristan, where he was known as Usman Punjabi (not the Usman Punjabi who this year was abducted by Pakistani intelligence) for being a non-Pashtun.

Despite this, and although not an Arab, he steadily climbed up the jihadi ladder, eventually serving on the personal staff of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

In Pakistan, he joined forces with Arab ideologue Sheikh Essa and helped him to expand his ideological network among Pakistani jihadis, as well as to orchestrate the struggle against the security forces.

Essa, once a Muslim Brotherhood activist, wanted to turn Pakistan and Afghanistan into a single war theater, arguing that by supporting the American war in Afghanistan, Pakistan had become an enemy country (Darul Harb). That is, jihadis should rebel against Pakistan. Initially, Essa found little support, apart from Masood Janjua from Rawalpindi, who was abducted by the security forces in mid-2000s and is still missing.

Usman, however, joined forces with Essa and revitalized his network. He was the one who brought Lal Masjid prayer leaders and Essa together. As a result, the mosque became a dangerous al-Qaeda sanctuary. This eventually forced the Pakistan security forces to carry out a highly contentious raid in July 2007. This incident had widespread ramifications, including a polarization of militants in the tribal areas and a stiffening of their resistance against the state.

Commander Ilyas Kashmiri was the most prominent field commander of the Kashmiri separatist movement. After his second detention and release by the Pakistanis in 2005, his differences with the establishment reached a level of high hostility. At this point, Bin Laden advised Kashmiri to move to North Waziristan and sign on for al-Qaeda's battles. Usman was Bin Laden's messenger.

Kashmiri followed the al-Qaeda leader's advice, taking with him his famed 313 Brigade, which Usman joined. Al-Qaeda organized Pakistani militants under the command of Kashmiri, who soon took on Usman as his confidant and driver.

Usman's jihadi zeal had helped him to form a cult under Essa, but he was strategically groomed by the battle-hardened Kashmiri, who trained him in monitoring targets and preparing maps and coordination for strikes by 313 Brigade. In short, he became al-Qaeda's spymaster.

The strike that killed Usman had apparently targeted high-profile Arabs, Uzbeks and Europeans in North Waziristan - American intelligence was unaware that he was in the area; he was collateral damage.

Asia Times Online :: South Asia news, business and economy from India and Pakistan
 
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Drone attack kills 10 in North Waziristan

By Pazir Gul
Friday, 08 Oct, 2010

MIRAMSHAH: Ten suspected militants were killed when a US drone fired two missiles on a compound in North Waziristan on Friday, official sources said.

The missiles hit the compound in Charkhel village, about 25km west of Miramshah in Dattakhel tehsil, the sources said.

Agencies add: Two suspected US missile strikes killed nine people in the tribal region along the Afghan border, intelligence officials said.

One evening strike in the town of Mohammad Khel killed four people and a second in Datta Khel killed five, two officials said.

The identity of the dead was not immediately known, but the area of the strikes in North Waziristan is believed to be controlled by the Taliban militants.

The officials said all nine dead are believed to be militants and some may be foreign fighters. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

An intelligence official in Miramshah said: “Both of the missiles hit the militants’ compound.

We are investigating whether there were any high-value targets.” He said that according to initial indications all of the dead were local militants.

But another intelligence official in Miramshah said: “We are investigating a report that there were four Turkmen fighters among the dead.” Officials said earlier this week that a drone strike had killed five German militants.

DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Drone attack kills 10 in North Waziristan
 
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Al Qaeda leader linked to Iran may have been killed in recent Predator strike

By Thomas Joscelyn & Bill Roggio
October 9, 2010

A senior al Qaeda leader who serves as al Qaeda's ambassador to Iran, and is wanted by the US, is reported to have been killed in a Predator airstrike in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan two days ago. The report has not been confirmed.

US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal did confirm, however, that two important al Qaeda operatives have relocated to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of northern Pakistan.

The first is Atiyah Abd al Rahman, a Libyan national who has been based in Iran and served as Osama bin Laden's ambassador to the mullahs. Unconfirmed press reports indicate that Rahman was killed in an airstrike earlier this week.

The second is Fahd Mohammad Ahmed al Quso, who is wanted for his involvement in the Oct. 12, 2000, bombing of the USS Cole. Quso was reportedly killed in an airstrike in northern Pakistan in September, but US intelligence officials have not been able to confirm that Quso is really dead.

From Iran to northern Pakistan

Atiyah Abd al Rahman may have been among one of four "militants" killed in an Oct. 7 airstrike on a compound and a vehicle in the village of Khaisoori in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan. Another operative identified as Khalid Mohammad Abbas al Harabi was also reportedly killed.

"We have received reports that Al Qaeda leader Atiyah Abd al Rahman has been killed in the Oct 7 drone attack," a Pakistani intelligence official told DPA. "Together with him another low-ranking Al Qaeda operative Khalid Mohammad Abbas al Harabi also died."

However, US intelligence officials would not confirm the report when asked by The Long War Journal. They noted that while Atiyah Abd al Rahman is thought to have been operating in the area of the airstrike, his death has not been verified.

Khalid al Harabi is an alias for Khalid Habib, al Qaeda's former military commander who was killed in a US Predator strike in October 2008. Habib served as the leader of Brigade 055, al Qaeda's military formation in Afghanistan, after the death of Abu Laith al Libi, and also served as the leader of the Lashkar al Zil, or the Shadow Army.

The Pakistani intelligence official cited by DPA described Khalid al Harabi as a "low-ranking" al Qaeda operative. Al Harabi was not "low-ranking," so the Pakistani official may have been referring to another al Qaeda figure. In any event, Khalid Habib has been dead for two years.

Atiyah Abd al Rahman is one of at least several high-level al Qaeda operatives who have relocated from Iran to northern Pakistan in recent years. Saad bin Laden, Osama's presumed heir, moved to northern Pakistan from Iran in late 2008. Some time later, Saif al Adel, who is a member of al Qaeda's military committee, followed suit. Osama bin Laden's spokesman, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, also left Iran for northern Pakistan earlier this year.


From Yemen to northern Pakistan


Another al Qaeda operative reportedly killed in recent drone strikes is Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al Quso. As with Atiyah, US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal could not confirm Quso's death. They did confirm Quso's presence in northern Pakistan.

Quso has long been wanted by the FBI. Quso has been detained and released by the Yemeni government on multiple occasions. Quso was most recently freed in 2007, and it was suspected that he was still operating inside Yemen. A tape released by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in May of this year featured Quso along with a former Gitmo detainee who has become an AQAP military leader. In the tape, the AQAP leaders threatened to attack American targets, including warships. [See LWJ report, Former Gitmo detainee featured as commander in al Qaeda tape.]

Read more: Al Qaeda leader linked to Iran may have been killed in recent Predator strike - The Long War Journal
 
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