US Drone Strikes In Pakistan

[Kumar]

Suspected U.S. Strikes Kill Eight in Pakistan - washingtonpost.com

Suspected U.S. Strikes Kill Eight in Pakistan

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, Dec. 23 -- Suspected U.S. missile strikes killed eight people Monday in northwest Pakistan, where al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders are thought to be hiding, officials and witnesses said.

The identities of those killed in the two attacks -- the latest in a stepped-up U.S. campaign in the lawless region close to the Afghan border -- were not known.

Meanwhile, the government said an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group was suspected of helping carry out the September suicide attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, the capital.

Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik's charge against Lashkar-i-Jhangvi was the first time Pakistan has blamed a specific group for the bombing, which killed more than 50 people.

Monday's missiles struck about five miles apart just south of Wana, the main town in the South Waziristan tribal area, local security official Bakht Janan said. A house and a vehicle were destroyed in the attacks, which killed four people at each location, he said.

Witnesses told the Associated Press that an antiaircraft gun mounted on a vehicle fired on one of the drones before it launched a missile.

The United States has carried out more than 30 missile strikes since August in Pakistan's lawless, semiautonomous tribal areas, targeting al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters blamed for attacks in Afghanistan.

Although the missile strikes have killed scores of insurgents, Pakistan has criticized them as an infringement of its sovereignty and says they undermine its battle against extremism.

In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman, Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington, said he had no information on the Monday strikes. Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad could not be reached for comment early Tuesday. The United States rarely confirms or denies such attacks and has pushed Pakistan to clear out fighters in the tribal areas.

Pakistan has arrested three people in the Sept. 20 Marriott truck bombing, but no one has been formally charged.



Malik told lawmakers that assailants packed explosives into the truck in Jhang town in Punjab province, south of Islamabad. He said Lashkar-i-Jhangvi "assisted" with the plot, but he gave no more details.

Experts say the Sunni insurgent group has formed links with al-Qaeda in recent years. The group has been accused of attacks against minority Shiites across the country, Westerners in Karachi and two assassination attempts against then-President Pervez Musharraf in 2003.

 

[Anwar2]

US Drone strikes on Pakistani territory are probably the 3rd most shameful episode of our national history.

The 2nd most shameful episode is the fact that such strikes have the tacit approval of our Government and the Army.

The most shameful however is the opinion in some circles (including this forum) to ask the US to equip Pak Army with NVG, FLIR and Cobras to do this job most efficiently!!

The US has gradually desensitized us to the gross violation of our territorial integrity:
· First they made us accept the desirability of such strikes against the “bad guys” in FATA; as if FATA is not part of Pakistan.
· Some weeks ago the strikes in the settled areas of Bannu were justified; against “rogue extremist Taliban”.
· The next stage will probably be Jhang or Attock or Muridke, strikes against LeT strongholds?

Now India is demanding the “privilege” to launch surgical strikes on Pakistani territory under the same paradigm of “War against Terror”. The US is convincing Pakistan of the desirability of such move … and Mr. Zardari is looking for a graceful way to accede to such request. Is this acceptable to Pakistani nation and the Army?

 

[TruthSeeker]

US kills four al Qaeda operatives in South Waziristan strike


By Bill Roggio, The Long War Journal
January 1, 2009 7:33 AM

The US military started the New Year with an airstrike in Pakistan's Taliban-control tribal agency of South Waziristan.

An unmanned Predator strike aircraft launched Hellfire missiles at a vehicle and a hideout in the town of Karikot. Four people were killed and several were injured in missile strikes, Geo News reported. Several of those wounded are in critical condition. No senior Taliban or al Qaeda leaders have been reported killed in the attack.

All of those killed were "foreigners," a word used to describe al Qaeda operatives from outside of Pakistan. "It was a precision strike as there have been no civilian casualties," a Pakistani intelligence officer told Reuters. "All the dead and wounded were militants from Turkmenistan." Turkmen terrorists are typically affiliated with the al Qaeda affiliated Islamic Jihad Group, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, or the East Turkistan Islamic Movement.

The town of Karikot is located in the tribal areas commanded by Mullah Nazir, a Taliban chieftain and rival of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. The last US airstrike inside of Pakistan in 2008 took place in Karikot and Shin Warsak near South Waziristan's main town of Wana.

The US targeted Nazir and Tahir Yuldashev, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, in a strike near Wana on Nov. 7. Nazir was wounded in the attack. Yuldashev's status is still unknown.

There were 36 recorded cross-border attacks and attempts in Pakistan during 2008, according to numbers compiled by The Long War Journal. Twenty-nine of these attacks took place since Aug. 31. There were only 10 recorded strikes during 2006 and 2007 combined.
_______________________________________

1st 2009 Drone Strike

 

[TruthSeeker]

Three dead in Pakistan missile strike

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) — A suspected US missile strike Friday killed at least three foreign militants in the northwest Pakistan stronghold of a local Taliban commander, a senior security official said.

The strike was the second in as many days in the South Waziristan tribal area on the border with Afghanistan, where hundreds of extremists fled after the US-led invasion in late 2001 that toppled the Taliban regime in Kabul.

There have been more than two dozen such strikes on northwest Pakistan since August, sparking angry government criticism of the United States, a close ally which is believed to be launching the missiles from unmanned CIA aircraft.

"Two missiles were fired on Taliban offices near Ladha village in South Waziristan, killing three foreign militants and wounding two others," the security official told AFP.

The official said he had no details on the nationalities of the foreigners.

Ladha, located about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Afghan border, is the stronghold of Baitullah Mehsud, who leads the country's umbrella Taliban organisation, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

From the Long War Journal:

An unmanned US Predator aircraft fired missiles at an abandoned girls' school in the village of Madin in the Lahda region. Four Taliban fighters occupying the abandoned school have been reported killed in the early morning strike. No senior Taliban or al Qaeda leaders have been reported killed.

The Taliban and the Pakistani military had several major clashes at the Ladha Fort during January 2008. The Frontier Corps abandoned the Ladha Fort and other outposts in August 2008 after admitting it could no longer keep the supply lines open.

Today's strike in South Waziristan follows yesterday's attack against Taliban fighters in Mullah Nazir's tribal areas. Four Turkmen al Qaeda members were reported killed in the New Year’s Day strike. Prior to the turn of the new year, the last US attack inside of Pakistan took place on Dec. 22 near Wana in Nazir's tribal areas.
____________________________

2nd 2009 Drone Strike

 

[Neo]

US senator says strikes not ‘worth it’​

WASHINGTON: US Senator Kit Bond, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on Friday that drone attacks inside Pakistan are not worth the ‘strategic loss’ in overall Pakistani and world opinion, and cross-border incursions should be reserved for only the top high-value targets. Bond also urged president-elect Barack Obama to appoint a special coordinator to improve counter-terrorism efforts on the Pak-Afghan border and to alleviate Islamabad’s concerns on Indian influence in Afghanistan.

 

[Neo]

US should halt strikes in Pakistan: Kayani​

* COAS wants enhanced intelligence sharing among forces
* Tripartite meeting agrees to increase number of border coordination centres​

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Kayani on Friday demanded the international and United States forces in Afghanistan immediately halt strikes inside Pakistani territory, a private TV channel reported.

Gen Kayani also stressed the need for increased intelligence sharing among forces operating in the region during the 25th meeting of the Tripartite Commission, consisting of military representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan and international forces in Afghanistan, which was held in Kabul on Friday.

“The meeting reviewed the security situation in areas along the Pak-Afghan border and discussed measures to improve the effectiveness of the ongoing operations in the respective areas,” the Inter–Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

Afghan National Army Chief of the General Staff General Bismullah Khan and International Security Assistance Forces Afghanistan Commander General David D McKiernan headed the respective delegations.

Centres: The TV channel said the tripartite meeting agreed to increase the number of border coordination centres to four. Presently there was only one such centre and now three more would be set up to improve security surveillance, it said.

Earlier, the COAS met Afghan President Hamid Karzai on his special invitation, the TV channel reported, adding they discussed matters of mutual interest.

 

[Khuda Baksh]

Death from above: how Predator is taking its toll on al-Qaeda - Times Online



Michael Evans
The top hierarchy of al-Qaeda has taken such a hit from US missile strikes that Osama bin Laden and his deputy have had to replace people in the terrorist organisation with men they have never met, according to Western intelligence sources.

A dozen of al-Qaeda’s “senior management” have been killed by Predator drone attacks, which have been so effective in locating their targets that the militant group has been forced to move from traditional outdoor training camps to classroom-style facilities that are hidden from view.

After the success of the new weapons, which are unmanned and operate by remote control from 15,000 feet, the United States is to step up its drone attacks. On January 1 Hellfire missiles, operated from an air force base in Nevada, hit targets in the South Waziristan region of Pakistan, close to Afghanistan, and yesterday two missiles slammed into the stronghold where Baitullah Mehsud, the Pakistani Taleban leader, is believed to live.

The killings have had a huge impact on the structure, organisation and effectiveness of al-Qaeda, limiting the capacity for commanders to liaise with each other, further separating the top command from the lower ranks and introducing a high degree of uncertainty and a constant awareness of the likelihood of death lurking in the skies.

Bin Laden, al-Qaeda’s figurehead leader and Ayman al-Zawahiri, his Egyptian deputy, have had to rely on the loyalty of their associates to stay alive and remain hidden from the American surveillance networks.

Predators, armed with Hellfire missiles and precision-guided penetration bombs, have already succeeded in targeting two individuals believed to have ranked number three in the al-Qaeda chain of command: Hamza Rabia and Abu Laith al-Libi. They have also killed Mohammed Atef, reputedly the chief of military operations, and several of the group’s most experienced explosives and biological weapons specialists.

One of the consequences of the Predator attacks has been that al-Qaeda has had to give up its traditional terrorist training camps. Sending recruits out into the open to receive military-style jihadist instruction in combat and bomb-making has become too risky. “As soon as they are spotted, the Americans attack with Predators,” a counter-terrorist source said. Now terrorist training in the tribal regions in Pakistan is carried out “in the classroom”, less visible from the air and making it more difficult for the Americans to monitor the scale of the recruiting.

Communications between the top echelon and operatives is now restricted to human couriers. Mobile and satellite phones are never used by the core leaders because they know that American signals intelligence will be able to pinpoint individuals as soon as the devices are switched on.

Since the Americans acquired missile-armed Predators and the newer model, called Reaper, the CIA and Pentagon have focused on killing terrorist targets rather than monitoring and tracking the activities of suspected al-Qaeda figures. The killing option has led to an increasingly successful record.

Despite a number of attacks that led to civilian deaths, in more recent Predator missions – particularly over the past four months – the intelligence has been more accurate. In one mission in November a Predator strike on a compound in the village of Ali Khel in North Waziristan killed two of the most senior al-Qaeda operatives, Abu Zubair al-Masri, an Egyptian explosives expert, and Rashid Rauf, the British Pakistani who is alleged to have been linked to the Heathrow bomb plot of August 2006.

There were claims that Rauf was not in the compound at the time, but counter-terror officials firmly believe that he was there and that he died.

The killing of al-Libi, reputed to be a number three in the al-Qaeda hierarchy, in January last year was one of the biggest blows for bin Laden and al-Zawahiri. He was head of the Libyan fighting group of al-Qaeda and was regarded as an important director. He was also a charismatic, respected religious figure and operational planner who could smooth the way for al-Qaeda in the tribal areas whenever there were confrontations between the terrorist leaders and their Pakistani hosts over the constant threat posed by the American Predators.

Another serious loss to al-Qaeda was that of Abu Abeda al-Masri, the head of external relations who died of natural causes after becoming ill with hepatitis. He was a significant loss in terms of the threat to the UK because his role was to train Britons.

Another key Predator victim was Abu Suleiman al-Jusayi (or al-Jazairi), an Algerian who was an al-Qaeda trainer and explosives specialist. He had been involved in a series of European terrorist networks. He was killed in the Bajaur tribal district of Pakistan in June.

One of the most sought-after American targets was Abu Kabbah al-Masri, al-Qaeda’s most experienced biological weapons scientist. He was engaged in the chemical and biological trials that were uncovered in Afghanistan in 2001. He was known to be continuing his experiments in the tribal regions of Pakistan. He was tracked by the Americans and killed by a Hellfire missile in the second half of last year. Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, another poisons expert, is also believed to have been killed by the Americans in a Predator attack.

The only al-Qaeda commander to have been killed by other means in the past 12 months was Abu Ghadiyah, who was in charge of the production line of suicide bombers from Syria into Iraq. He died during a controversial US commando helicopter raid across the border from Iraq in October.

Aerial assault

— Armed predator unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been in use since 1999

— The aircraft is controlled from the ground using satellite systems and onboard cameras

— The MQ9 craft, which is used in Afghanistan, is 11m long, has a 20m wing span and a cruise speed of up to 230mph. Each can carry four Hellfire missiles and two bombs

— Three systems were bought by the RAF last year for £500m

Sources: Jane’s Information, US Airforce, RAF, Times archives

 

[TruthSeeker]

no drones for a week

 

[TruthSeeker]

Well, it is January 20, 2009 and there have been no CIA drone strikes in FATA or NWFP since January 2nd. So now we will see if the Obama administration will continue the drone strike policy that was operating at the end of 2008. As it is, we have gone ~ 18 days since the last strike. I assume that the CIA would not now launch a missile strike unless it asked Obama to "re-authorize" whatever was the policy that Bush put in place last summer.

 

[Kumar]

Looks like Obama has given the go ahead... He has signed the papers..

Pakistan drone attack kills eight

BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | Pakistan drone attack kills nine

 

[TruthSeeker]

US strikes al Qaeda in North and South Waziristan
By Bill Roggio, The Long War Journal, January 23, 2009 11:42 AM

The US launched two airstrkes inside of Paksitan's tribal areas on Friday, ending a three week lull in attacks against Taliban and al Qaeda networks inside Pakistan. Twenty people, including "foreigners" have been reported killed in the Predator strikes in the Taliban controlled tribal agencies of North and South Waziristan.

The first attack took place in the town of Zera just outside of Mir Ali in North Waziristan. Three Hellfire missiles are reported to have struck a compound run by a local named Khalil, killing ten people.

The second strike took place in the town of Gangi Khel near Wana in Sourth Waziristan. Two Hellfire missiles were launched at a compound, killing ten more people.

No senior al Qaeda or Taliban leaders have been reported killed at this time, and it is not yet known who the targets of the attacks were.

The town of Gangi Khel in South Waziristan is located in the tribal areas commanded by Mullah Nazir, a Taliban chieftain and rival of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. The US targeted Nazir and Tahir Yuldashev, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, in a strike near Wana on Nov. 7. Nazir was wounded in the attack. Yuldashev's status is still unknown.

The town of Mir Ali is a known stronghold of al Qaeda leader Abu Kasha. He has close links to both al Qaeda and the Taliban, a senior US intelligence official told The Long War Journal in January 2007. Kasha is an Iraqi national who operates in the Mir Ali region. He serves as the key link between al Qaeda's Shura Majlis, or executive council, and the Taliban.

His responsibilities have expanded to assisting in facilitating al Qaeda external operations against the West, a senior US military intelligence official told told The Long War Journal in October 2008.

Kasha commands two local Pakistani commanders, Imanullah and Haq Nawaz Dawar. These men administer al Qaeda's network in Mir Ali. Kasha has a working relationship and close communication with the Uzbek terror groups, including the Islamic Jihad Group run by Najimuddin al Uzbeki, who also operates out of North Waziristan.

__________________________

Yes, Kumar, it looks like Obama re-authorized drone strikes at least in FATA.

 

[Lockheed F-16]

I don't think that the drone attacks particularly have to be bad if the Terrorists were really killed and not civilians. If only Taliban would be killed, I wouldn't have such a bad opinion but with casualties like always it must be rejected

 

[Al-zakir]

Twenty killed in US drone strikes in N, S Waziristan
Updated at: 2123 PST, Friday, January 23, 2009

WANA: Twenty people have been killed and several others injured in US drone strikes in North and South Waziristn on Friday.

According to foreign news agencies, the dead include four foreigners.

Three missiles were fired at a house of a man named Khalil in Zera, an area located in North Waziristan, killing 10 people and injuring many others.

The second attack was launched on a house of Dilfaraz in South Waziristan’s area near Wana which also reported to have killed 10 people.

The injured have been shifted to local hospitals.

It was the first suspected US missile strike since US President Barack Obama was inaugurated on Tuesday and comes one day after he appointed Richard Holbrooke as special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Twenty killed in US drone strikes in N, S Waziristan - GEO.tv

 

[TruthSeeker]

President orders air strikes on villages in tribal area

UK Guardian, January 23, 2009

Barack Obama gave the go-ahead for his first military action yesterday, missile strikes against suspected militants in Pakistan which killed at least 18 people.

Four days after assuming the presidency, he was consulted by US commanders before they launched the two attacks. Although Obama has abandoned many of the "war on terror" policies of George Bush while he was president, he is not retreating from the hunt for Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders.

The US believes they are hiding in the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan, and made 30 strikes last year in which more than 200 people were killed. In the election, Obama hinted at increased operations in Pakistan, saying he thought Bush had made a mistake in switching to Iraq before completing the job against al-Qaida in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Obama has warned that he is prepared to bomb inside Pakistan if he gets relevant intelligence about the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden. He had also said he would act against militants along the border if the Pakistan government failed to.

The US missiles were fired by unmanned Predator drones, which hang in the sky gathering intelligence through surveillance and, when commanded and directed by remote control, to launch attacks.

The strikes will help Obama portray himself as a leader who, though ready to shift the balance of American power towards diplomacy, is not afraid of military action.

The Pakistan government publicly expressed hope that the arrival of Obama would see a halt to such strikes, which stir up hostility from Pakistanis towards the government; in private, the government may be more relaxed about such attacks.

But Washington insists on seeing as one of its biggest problems the ability of the Taliban and al-Qaida to maintain havens in Pakistan. Obama on Thursday announced he was making veteran diplomat Richard Holbrooke a special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan. The secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, spoke by phone to the Pakistan president, Asif Ali Zardari.

 

[tarrar]

they will keep doing this because this govt had signed that they will not interfere and will not say anything. I was laughing when Gadari said that Musharraf had signed for the drone attacks and Musharraf response was excellent he said " quam nai churiyan nahi pahny hui un ko sab malum hai kon sacha hai aur kon jhoota hai" and when he was questioned on the govt he said " i don't want give any comment on this" which clearly shows that this govt has completely failed 101%. We need a revolution we need a Marshall law as soon as possible and execute these corrupt leaders all of them in front of the nation so that these type of corrupt leaders are never ever born again.