US Drone strikes in Pakistan are illegal under international law.

[Indian Army]

Strike may have killed Pakistani Taliban chief

ISLAMABAD — Intercepted militant radio communications indicate the leader of the Pakistani Taliban may have been killed in a recent U.S. drone strike, Pakistani intelligence officials said Sunday. A Taliban official denied that.

The report coincided with sectarian violence — a bomb blast in eastern Pakistan that killed 14 people in a Shiite religious procession.

The claim that the Pakistani Taliban chief was killed came from officials who said they intercepted a number of Taliban radio conversations. In about a half a dozen intercepts, the militants discussed whether their chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed on Jan. 12 in the North Waziristan tribal area. Some militants confirmed Mehsud was dead, and one criticized others for talking about the issue over the radio.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

Pakistani Taliban spokesman Asimullah Mehsud denied the group’s leader was killed and said he was not in the area where the drone strike occurred.

In early 2010, both Pakistani and American officials said they believed a missile strike had killed Hakimullah Mehsud along the border of North and South Waziristan. They were proved wrong when videos appeared showing him still alive.

The Pakistani Taliban is linked to attacks against U.S. targets. It trained the Pakistani-American who tried to detonate a car bomb in New York City’s Times Square in 2010 and is tied to a suicide bombing that killed seven CIA agents at an Afghan base in 2009.

There was no claim of responsibility for Sunday’s bombing that killed 14 people during a Shiite observance in Punjab province in the east — the latest of a series of sectarian attacks in volatile Pakistan.

Hundreds of Pakistani Shiites gathered in the town of Khanpur in Punjab province for a traditional procession to mark the end of 40 days of mourning following the anniversary of the death of Imam Hussein, a revered 7th-century figure.

The explosion went off as the mourners left a mosque, said District Police Chief Sohail Chatta. The bomb appeared to have been planted ahead of time in the path of the procession, he said.

The Pakistani Taliban and other Sunni extremist groups have in the past claimed responsibility for the bombings of Shiite religious sites and ceremonies. Many Sunni extremists in Pakistan regard Shiites as heretics.

The Taliban and other groups have carried out hundreds of bombings over the last five years that have killed thousands of Pakistani troops and civilians as part of a campaign to install a hard-line Islamist government.

The attacks are so common that the country’s interior minister in December actually thanked the Taliban for acting on what he said was a “request” not to stage attacks during the Shiite rituals of Ashoura that month.

Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah said police investigators were still examining the area of Sunday’s bombing for clues. Security was provided for the procession, but it was breached, Sanaullah said.

The continuing strikes by presumed religious extremists come during a political crisis that pits the Pakistani civilian government against the military, sparking rumors of an impending coup.

Last week the military warned the government of possible “grievous consequences” ahead, and President Asif Ali Zardari took a one-day trip to Dubai that renewed speculation that he might flee the country.

Analysts say the military may be looking for the Supreme Court to push out Zardari rather than risk an outright takeover.

Strike may have killed Pakistani Taliban chief - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

 

[Mav3rick]

Drone strikes are neccessary to maintain pressure on these terrorist outfits. They are doing a good job.

I wonder whether you will stand by the statement if a family member of yours becomes a collateral in any such strike.

 

[Perceptron]

Drone strikes are neccessary to maintain pressure on these terrorist outfits. They are doing a good job.

You my man, are one of the few shrill voices of sanity left in this forum. I pray to God that more of your kind grow and flourish. The death of these pricks will make the Taliban and especially the Mehsud tribe bow down to these ababeels(drones) 5 times a day now on.

 

[Oldman1]

I wonder whether you will stand by the statement if a family member of yours becomes a collateral in any such strike.

Terrorists shouldn't be living with family members or even taking with them. Like Osama did.

 

[Mav3rick]

Terrorists shouldn't be living with family members or even taking with them. Like Osama did.

But herein lies the basic problem, how can one be judged a terrorist without a trial? So far, only alleged terrorists have been killed in drone strikes and who is to say how many of them actually killed fighters and how many of them killed innocent civilians.

 

[Mav3rick]

@Agnostic Muslim: How am I supposed to respond to your statement when you delete the post? And I am extremely surprised at the deletion.....could you kindly quote which rule I broke for the post to have been deleted?

 

[Waffen SS]

I wonder whether you will stand by the statement if a family member of yours becomes a collateral in any such strike.

If my family member is working for a terrorist outfit, I would report to the authorities myself and then move to a safe distance before the missile strike.

 

[Irfan Baloch]

If my family member is working for a terrorist outfit, I would report to the authorities myself and then move to a safe distance before the missile strike.

the bolded part is what I will do too and have actually already reported some old mates that I suspected frequenting BLA underground meetings. I havent heard from them yet but I hope they will lead us to some people who have been recently involved in the killing of civilians and security personnel.

I have problem with the second part though, I am now totally against an artillery or air strike against targets that are inside the civilian population. And I don’t qualify my criticism for only US drone strikes by our own too. What is wrong is wrong full stop
That’s something you only see from us Pakistanis whereas you will find Indians and Americans vehemently defending their governments no matter what they do.

I would rather welcome a raid on the premises in a built up area rather than an air strike that wont distinguish between the culprits and the innocent civilians, the very much people we are trying to defend.

Although our PAF air strikes have been only on caves and mountains where we suspected terrorist camps and arms depots (the video feed with secondary explosions confirmed that) but there have been stray bombs that landed on civilians (not on purpose like drone strikes) resulting in civilian casualties.

In case someone has missed it, I have no problem with strikes on the enemy hideouts in the wilderness but I am against them if they are targeted where there is civilian population around. We are not only loosing our own people but also giving a helping hand to the terrorists by making the population against us.

 

[Mav3rick]

If my family member is working for a terrorist outfit, I would report to the authorities myself and then move to a safe distance before the missile strike.

Perhaps you do not understand the meaning of 'collateral', especially in reference to my post. Where my post clearly indicates that the family member in your hypothetical situation is actually an innocent bystander who gets hit because the operatives of the drone fire missiles at an alleged target in the vicinity. How would you feel then?

And what if he/she is a dear one? Would your stance still be the same? Would you not blindly seek revenge? The problem with drone strikes is that there is no way to ensure the target(s) were actually militants, what if tomorrow they identify you as a terrorist or potential terrorist despite the fact that you have never even had a terrorist thought? Would you even be given a chance to prove your innocence or would you be taken out like an animal without any consequences to the US??

EDIT: By the way, must I remind you of the collateral damage our country has faced in these drone strike in the loss of women and children......non combatants, sick and helpless! We will answer to Allah for not defending them....even with our words if we could have!

 

[Marxist]

Senior al Qaeda figure killed in Pakistan drone strike

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD: A militant who acted as a senior operations organiser for al Qaeda was targeted and killed in one of two US drone strikes launched against targets inside Pakistan last week, a US official said.

US and Pakistani sources told Reuters that the target of the attack was Aslam Awan, a Pakistani national from Abbottabad, the same town where Osama bin Laden was killed last May by a US commando team.

They said he was targeted in a strike by a US-operated drone on Jan 10 directed at what news reports said was a compound near the town of Miramshah in the border province of North Waziristan.

That strike broke an undeclared eight-week hiatus in attacks by the armed, unmanned drones that patrol Pakistan’s tribal areas and are a key weapon in US President Barack Obama’s counter-terrorism strategy.

The sources described Awan, who also was known by the nom-de-guerre Abdullah Khorasani, as a significant figure in the remaining core leadership of al Qaeda, which US officials say has been sharply reduced by the drone campaign.

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/20/senior-al-qaeda-figure-killed-in-pakistan-drone-strike.html

 

[Hulk]

ISLAMABAD: The death of a senior al-
Qaida leader in a US drone strike in
Pakistan's tribal badlands, the first strike
in almost two months, signalled that the
US-Pakistan intelligence partnership is still
in operation despite political tensions.
The Jan 10 strike -- and its follow-up two
days later -- were joint operations, a
Pakistani security source based in the
tribal areas told Reuters.
They made use of Pakistani "spotters" on
the ground and demonstrated a level of
coordination that both sides have sought
to downplay since tensions erupted in
January 2011 with the killing of two
Pakistanis by a CIA contractor in Lahore.
"Our working relationship is a bit different
from our political relationship," the
source told Reuters, requesting
anonymity. "It 's more productive."
US and Pakistani sources told Reuters that
the target of the Jan 10 attack was Aslam
Awan, a Pakistani national from
Abbottabad, the town where Osama bin
Laden was killed last May by a US
commando team.
They said he was targeted in a strike by a
US-operated drone directed at what news
reports said was a compound near the
town of Miranshah in the border province
of North Waziristan.
That strike broke an undeclared eight-
week hiatus in attacks by the armed,
unmanned drones that patrol the tribal
areas and are a key weapon in US
President Barack Obama's counter-
terrorism strategy.
The sources described Awan, also known
by the nom- de-guerre Abdullah
Khorasani, as a significant figure in the
remaining core leadership of al- Qaida,
which US officials say has been sharply
reduced by the drone campaign. Most of
the drone attacks are conducted as part of
a clandestine CIA operation.
The Pakistani source, who helped target
Awan, could not confirm that he was
killed, but the US official said he was.
European officials said Awan had spent
time in London and had ties to British
extremists before returning to Pakistan.
The source, who says he runs a network of
spotters primarily in North and South
Waziristan, described for the first time
how US-Pakistani cooperation on strikes
works, with his Pakistani agents keeping
close tabs on suspected militants and
building a pattern of their movements and
associations.
"We run a network of human intelligence
sources," he said. "Separately , we monitor
their cell and satellite phones.
"Thirdly, we run joint monitoring
operations with our US and UK friends,"
he added, noting that cooperation with
British intelligence was also extensive.
Pakistani and US intelligence officers,
using their own sources, hash out a joint
"priority of targets lists" in regular face-
to-face meetings, he said.
"Al-Qaida is our top priority," he said.
He declined to say where the meetings
take place.
Once a target is identified and "marked ,"
his network coordinates with drone
operators on the US side. He said the
United States bases drones outside Kabul,
likely at Bagram airfield about 25 miles
(40 km) north of the capital.
From spotting to firing a missile "hardly
takes about two to three hours", he said.
DRONE STRIKES A SORE POINT WITH
PAKISTAN
It was impossible to verify the source's
claims and American experts, who decline
to discuss the drone programme, say the
Pakistanis' cooperation has been less
helpful in the past.
US officials have complained that when
information on drone strikes was shared
with the Pakistanis beforehand, the targets
were often tipped off, allowing them to
escape.
Drone strikes have been a sore point with
the public and Pakistani politicians, who
describe them as violations of sovereignty
that produce unacceptable civilian
casualties.
The last strike before January had been on
Nov 16, 10 days before 24 Pakistani
soldiers were killed in what NATO says
was an inadvertent cross-border attack on
a Pakistani border post.
That incident sent US-Pakistan relations
into the deepest crisis since Islamabad
joined the US-led war on militancy
following the Sept 11, 2001 attacks. On
Thursday, Pakistani foreign minister Hina
Rabbani Khar said ties were "on hold"
while Pakistan completes a review of the
alliance.
The United States sees Pakistan as critical
to its efforts to wind down the war in
Afghanistan, where US-led NATO forces
are battling a Taliban insurgency.
Some US and Pakistani officials say that
both sides are trying to improve ties. As
part of this process, a US official said, it is
possible that some permanent changes
could be made in the drone programme
which could slow the pace of attacks.
The security source said very few
innocent people had been killed in the
strikes. When a militant takes shelter in a
house or compound which is then
bombed, "the ones who are harbouring
him, they are equally responsible" , he
said.
"When they stay at a host house, they (the
hosts) obviously have sympathies for
these guys."
He denied that Pakistan helped target
civilians.
"If ... others say innocents have been
targeted, it's not true," he said. "We never
target civilians or innocents."
The New America Foundation policy
institute says that of 283 reported strikes
from 2004 to Nov 16, 2011, between 1,717
and 2,680 people were killed. Between 293
and 471 were thought to be civilians --
approximately 17 percent of those killed.
The Brookings Institution, however, says
civilian deaths are high, reporting in 2009
that "for every militant killed, 10 or more
civilians also died." Pakistan's interior
minister, Rehman Malik, also said in April
2011 that "the majority of victims are
innocent civilians" .
Still, despite its public stance, Pakistan has
quietly supported the drone programme
since Obama ramped up air strikes when
he took office in 2009 and even asked for
more flights.
According to a US State Department cable
published by anti- secrecy organisation
WikiLeaks, Pakistan's chief of army staff
General Ashfaq Kayani in February 2008
asked Admiral William J Fallon, then-
commander of US Central Command, for
increased surveillance and round-the-
clock drone coverage over North and
South Waziristan.
The security source said Pakistan's
powerful spy agency, the Directorate of
Inter-Services Intelligence, also was
supportive of the strikes, albeit privately.

 

[Vassnti]

They made use of Pakistani "spotters" on
the ground and demonstrated a level of
coordination that both sides have sought
to downplay

Rather than down play it they shoul be promoting it. If the spotters are Pakistani it doesnt matter where the drone is controled from the target is selected by Pakistan that gives them effective control of the drone program. Isnt that what so many wanted?

 

[SQ8]

Rather than down play it they shoul be promoting it. If the spotters are Pakistani it doesnt matter where the drone is controled from the target is selected by Pakistan that gives them effective control of the drone program. Isnt that what so many wanted?

Not entirely precise.
Effective control is being able to call in a drone strike at the exact targets when and where PAKISTAN WANTS IT.

 

[livingdead]

Not entirely precise.
Effective control is being able to call in a drone strike at the exact targets when and where PAKISTAN WANTS IT.

Will it not enable pakistan to selectively go against those who are against its interest, and not necessarily NATOs.

 

[Roybot]

Four killed in North Waziristan drone strike – The Express Tribune

PESHAWAR: Four people were killed in a drone strike in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan on Monday.Four missiles were fired, one hit a vehicle and one hit a house, an official said. Four people were killed and one was injured in the strike.

Local sources said that there were women present in the house when the missiles were fired and confirmed that they remained safe.There is no confirmation on the targets of the attacks as yet.