US Drone strikes in Pakistan are illegal under international law.

[TruthSeeker]

U.S. drone picks off motorcycle-riding militants in Pakistan

Published: July 14, 2013 at 10:16 AM

MIR ALI, Pakistan, July 14 (UPI) -- Pakistani intelligence officials said an apparent U.S. drone attack took out two suspected militant fighters on a motorcycle Saturday night.

The official, who was not identified, said the attack occurred in a village near Mir Ali in the North Waziristan tribal region and also damaged a nearby house.

"Both of the militants on the motorbike were killed on the spot," the official told The New York Times. "The drone fired two missiles that also damaged a nearby house, but no casualty has so far been reported inside it."

The strike was the second drone attack in North Waziristan this month. The first was on July 2 and left 17 people dead.

The Times said drone activity, which is highly unpopular among Pakistan's government and civilian population, has been less frequent in recent weeks due to greater scrutiny of the program by the Obama administration.

Read more: Two fighters killed in Pakistan drone strike; no civilian casualties - UPI.com

Suspected drone strike kills at least 17 -- reports

Published: July 3, 2013 at 1:37 AM

ISLAMABAD, July 3 (UPI) -- A suspected U.S. drone strike in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region killed at least 17 people, Dawn reported, quoting sources.

Geo News, quoting its officials sources, put the death toll from the strike at 18.

Dawn reported the strike late Tuesday night or early Wednesday targeted a house near a bazaar in the Sirai Darpakhel area of Miramshah, the administrative headquarters of North Waziristan.

The tribal region is seen by U.S. military officials as a haven for Taliban and other militant groups to launch attacks against coalition forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

Dawn, quoting Pakistani intelligence sources, said four missiles were fired at the house, leaving 17 dead and two more injured. The report gave no details about those killed.

Geo News said the drone attacked a residential compound and a vehicle in the area, killing 18 people.

The drone attack, based on the number of reported casualties, would be a major one and comes at a time when Pakistan has a new government led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The Sharif government strongly opposes the drone program, saying it violates Pakistan's sovereignty and only helps fan anti-American sentiments.

Last May, a drone strike killed Waliur Rehman Mehsud, leader of the Pakistani Taliban called Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Sharif, who became prime minister after his party won elections in May, has said he wants to negotiate with the Pakistani Taliban.

Also in May, in a speech on counter-terrorism, U.S. President Barack Obama announced a new drone policy to limit civilian casualties, although the program has been a major factor in crippling al-Qaida and other militants.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/07/03/Suspected-drone-strike-kills-at-least-17-reports/UPI-88321372829820/#ixzz2Z3d91JGQ

 

[notsuperstitious]

Why hasn't the title of this sticky thread been changed now that we conclusively know the drone strikes are carried out with Pakistan govt permission and are fully legal?

 

[babajees]

Why hasn't the title of this sticky thread been changed now that we conclusively know the drone strikes are carried out with Pakistan govt permission and are fully legal?

They are carried out with govt consent yes, legal no, that's why

 

[fatman17]

• According to a Tuesday report in the Washington Post, U.S. drones will maintain a presence along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, even as CIA bases begin closing throughout Afghanistan and around the Pakistan border area.[7]

 

[TruthSeeker]

Pakistan says suspected US drone strike kills five people on Afghan border

guardian.co.uk, Sunday 28 July 2013 13.48 EDT

Pakistani intelligence officials say a suspected US drone strike killed five people in the tribal region near the Afghan border on Sunday.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two missiles hit the Shawal area of North Waziristan on Sunday evening when the men were crossing on foot into Pakistani territory from Afghanistan. They said the men have not been identified.

Sunday's raid took place in North Waziristan, home to a mix of Pakistani, Afghan and al-Qaida-linked foreign militants.

The US drone program is a source of extreme tension between the Washington and Islamabad. The US government says it needs to send drones after dangerous militants because the Pakistani government refuses to engage them militarily. Pakistan charges that the drone strikes are a violation of its sovereignty.

The raid in Pakistan comes a day after suspected US drones killed four suspected Islamist militants in southern Yemen.

Local sources suggested that the targeted men were fighters believed to belong to Ansar al-Sharia, a Yemeni militant group linked to al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), al-Qaida's regional arm.

They were travelling in a vehicle in Yemen's southern province of Abyan when two rockets were launched from drones, nearby residents said.

Pakistan says suspected US drone strike kills five people on Afghan border | World news | guardian.co.uk

 

[TruthSeeker]

US Drone Fires Missiles at Militant Hideout-8 Killed

Posted by: Humaima Malik July 28, 2013

North Waziristan: Eight alleged militants have been killed in latest drone strike in Shawal valley area of restive North Waziristan agency moments before Iftar. Pakistani intelligence sources have confirmed the latest drone strike. According to available details, a US drone fired two missiles at a residential building just before Iftar. Missile attack claimed eight militants including four from Arab countries. Exact identity of the militants could not ascertained.

US drones remained in the area for nearly an hour. After the drones disappeared, a group of militants reached the site and recovered dead bodies which were mutilated beyond recognition. Later on, bodies were shifted to an undisclosed location.
Analysts say that Shawal valley is mostly forest covered which makes it a very good hideout for militants. Moreover, weather of the area remains very pleasant during summer days which attracts large number of militants from other areas of the region as well.

- See more at: US Drone Fires Missiles at Militant Hideout-8 Killed | Pakistan Tribune

 

[TruthSeeker]

Eight killed in US drone strike in N Waziristan

Posted: July 28, 2013 - 2150 PKT | Comment

MIRANSHAH: Eight persons were killed when a US drone fired two missiles at a house in the mountainous Shawal valley of the North Waziristan tribal region on Sunday.

Tribal sources said the drone hit a three-room structure where some people, suspected to be militants, were having an Iftar dinner.There was also speculation that four of the slain people were foreign fighters.

“They were all having an Iftar dinner in the compound when the drone fired two missiles. A group of militants arrived and started pulling out the bodies after an hour when the drone had disappeared,” a tribesman said.The tribesman said local tribal militants later told them that four among the slain militants were Arab fighters.

Government officials also confirmed the drone strike and said it took place in the remote forest-covered Shawal valley near the Afghan border where the militants usually set up sanctuaries in summer.

“The weather in Shawal remains very pleasant during summer and that’s why most of the militant groups, particularly foreigners, shift their camps to this remote region,” one of the officials said in Miranshah, headquarters of North Waziristan.

There was no immediate information about the identity of the slain militants.There has been a significant decline in US drone strikes in the tribal areas along the Afghan border during the past few months, apparently due to the strong protest by the new government.

Besides foreign militants, top Pakistani militant commanders, including Commander Nek Mohammad, Baitullah Mehsud, Qari Hussain, Maulvi Nazeer, Ilyas Kashmiri and Maulana Waliur Rahman, have been killed in drone strikes.

Eight killed in US drone strike in N Waziristan | PAKISTAN - geo.tv

 

[third eye]

Al Qaeda militants killed in drone strike in Pakistan - DAWN.COM



ISLAMABAD: A drone strike in Pakistan this week killed three al Qaeda operatives who ran a training camp in neighbouring Afghanistan to prepare militants for attacks including this week's jail break in Pakistan, a Taliban commander said on Wednesday.

About 30 militants and more than 200 other inmates escaped from the Dera Ismail Khan jail after a squad of highly trained Taliban fighters armed with grenade launchers and dressed as police overran the facility in the early hours of Tuesday.

A day earlier, a US drone strike killed six militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan - a mountainous haven for militant groups aligned with the Taliban and al Qaeda, according to local security officials.

The commander with the Pakistani Taliban told Reuters that those killed in the strike included three al Qaeda training experts who had crossed the border from Afghanistan to look at ways of setting up a similar camp on Pakistani territory.

The Taliban source identified the three as Abu Rashid from Saudi Arabia, Muhammed Ilyas Kuwaiti from Kuwait and Muhammed Sajid Yamani from Yemen.

Drone attacks are hard to verify and officials almost never comment on them on the record. Independent observers and journalists have almost no access to the tribal border areas where most of the strikes occur.

In its public statements, Pakistan condemns drone attacks as a violation of its sovereignty, saying they kill too many civilians and galvanise militants into staging more attacks.

The United States has been using drones in Pakistan since 2004 and has promised to scale back on the strikes. In the meantime missiles continue to hit their targets in North Waziristan almost on a weekly basis.

 

[Speaker]

Shooting down a drone isn?t so hard to do - DAWN.COM

Shooting down a drone isn’t so hard to do
MICHAEL KUGELMAN

Soon after Pakistan’s May election, Imran Khan called on the new government to “stop or shoot down” American drones.
His position has softened in more recent weeks, but the PTI continues to emphasise coercive responses — as evidenced by a resolution submitted to the National Assembly last month that urges the government to use military force “if needed.”

Yet, if the PTI truly wants to down a drone, it may want to call on its fellow countrymen, and not the government, to execute such an audacious operation.

Why do I say this? Enter an American named Phillip Steel. He has proposed an ordinance for his town of Deer Trail, Colorado. It gives private citizens the right to shoot down surveillance drones — and entitles them to compensation if they succeed.

But first, some broader context.

Hypothetically speaking, could the Pakistani state shoot down a drone? Certainly. There’s little doubt Pakistan’s military boasts the capacity. According to one expert, slow speeds, easy detectability, and lack of maneuverability make drones “child’s play for a Pakistani Air Force pilot.” American drones have been shot down before; Serbians did so in 1999, and Iraqis in 2002 (Iran says it downed one in 2011, a claim disputed by Washington).

Still, in all reality, will the Pakistani state shoot down a drone? No. Doing so would severely damage — if not sever altogether — Islamabad’s ties with Washington, a relationship, new prime minister Nawaz Sharif seems eager to strengthen. It could also trigger retaliation from the United States. And this all assumes the Pakistani military would do the deed — which it likely would not. We now know the military has consented to drone strikes (a logical position, given the high-level Pakistani Taliban and al Qaeda figures killed by drones). This undercuts the oft-stated argument that the government can legally shoot down drones under the principle of self-defense.

Yet there’s another possibility. What if aggrieved Pakistanis, convinced the state won’t act, decide to take matters into their own hands?

Admittedly, this scenario may seem more far-fetched than a state-led effort. After all, few private citizens wield weaponry capable of downing a stealthy aircraft cruising at up to 10,000 feet. Pakistani militants may have the capacity, and they’ve claimed to have downed drones before. But there’s no proof their boasts are truthful.

Still, in a country as heavily weaponised as Pakistan, where powerful arms flow freely, there’s reason to believe someone could acquire the means to down a drone.

This brings me back to Phillip Steel. His proposal would allow residents to purchase $25 licenses that authorise them to fire at drones. If you ground part of a craft, you’re entitled to $25. Bring down the whole thing, and you net $100.

If the ordinance passes (officials consider it August 6), few people — including Steel — believe anyone will actually bag a drone (though the US Federal Aviation Administration has threatened to prosecute anyone who tries). No one’s ever seen a drone over Deer Trail, and because of licensing restrictions, modest shotguns are the only permissible weapons.

Yet this is all immaterial. Steel and his supporters regard the initiative as a purely symbolic measure meant to highlights the US government’s rising levels of surveillance (the FAA is ramping up America’s domestic drones program).

I’m inclined to agree with an observer who describes the effort as “the sort of small-town lunacy that makes the local Chamber of Commerce president want to bang his head against his desk.” Still, it amplifies Americans’ legitimate concerns about a growing surveillance regime.

It also raises some salient considerations about Pakistan.

Assuming drone strikes continue to proliferate and little is done by Islamabad, I can envision something akin to Steel’s initiative emerging in Pakistan — where drones do so much more than simply spy from the sky.

Numerous Pakistanis have good reason to act boldly against drone strikes. Think of tribal belt civilians who have lost family members (or homes, limbs, or livelihoods), or who have been traumatised by the telltale humming of drones.

Some of these people have sought legal assistance. Several months ago, a Pakistani court sided with them and ordered the government to end drone strikes. Yet they haven’t ended.

Their next step could be proposing a rough equivalent of Steel’s ordinance, which I’m sure some PTI official in KP province would happily support. For reasons already mentioned, those proposing the measure could conceivably find the appropriate weaponry (Steel’s shotguns-only rule would presumably not be in effect).

There’d be nothing symbolic about this measure in Pakistan. Blessed with sufficient interest, capacity, and support, it could well bring down a low-flying drone (witnesses report that drones may hover at low altitudes for hours).

Unsettling? Absolutely. Yet this all underscores the understandable lengths to which citizens — American and Pakistani alike — may be willing to go when grievances arecontinuouslyignored.

 

[TruthSeeker]

US drones kill 4 Turkistan Islamic Party fighters in Pakistan strike

By BILL ROGGIO, August 31, 2013

The US launched its first drone strike in Pakistan in more than a month, killing four foreign fighters from Turkmenistan in an attack today in an area known to be infested with al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

The CIA-operated, remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers fired a pair of missiles a vehicle as it traveled in the village of Hisokhel in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan.

Pakistani intelligence officials told Dawn that the four fighters were members of the Turkistan Islamic Party. "Local militant sources" said they were from the country of Turkmenistan and were allied with North Waziristan Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadar.

The Turkistan Islamic Party, which is closely allied with al Qaeda and fights in Afghanistan, is known to host training camps in North Waziristan, particularly in the Mir Ali area. In July, the group released a video of women training for jihad at one of its camps. In the past, the Turkistan Islamic Party has also released videos of children training to wage jihad.

The Mir Ali area is in the sphere of influence of Abu Kasha al Iraqi, an al Qaeda leader who serves as a key link to the Taliban and supports al Qaeda's external operations network. He is rumored to have been killed in a US drone strike last year, but the report was never confirmed.

Bahadar and the Haqqani Network also operate in the Mir Ali area. Moreover, Mir Ali is a known hub for al Qaeda's military and external operations councils. Al Qaeda and allied terror groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Islamic Jihad Group, the Turkistan Islamic Party, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and a number of Pakistani and Central and South Asian terror groups host or share camps in the area.

Despite the known presence of al Qaeda and other foreign groups in North Waziristan, and requests by the US that action be taken against these groups, the Pakistani military has indicated that it has no plans to take on Hafiz Gul Bahadar or the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network. Bahadar and the Haqqanis are considered "good Taliban" by the Pakistani military establishment as they do not carry out attacks inside Pakistan. In June 2012, Bahadar banned polio vaccinations in North Waziristan, in protest against US drone strikes.

Today's strike is the first since July 28, and just the fifth since President Barack Obama's speech at the end of May outlining a reduced US counterterrorism role in the world. Three al Qaeda military trainers, from Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Kuwait, were killed in the July 28 strike in North Waziristan.

Read more: US drones kill 4 Turkistan Islamic Party fighters in Pakistan strike - The Long War Journal

 

[TruthSeeker]

US drones kill 4 Haqqani Network fighters in North Waziristan strike

By BILL ROGGIO, September 5, 2013

The US killed four suspected Haqqani Network fighters in the second drone strike in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan in six days.

The CIA-operated, remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers fired a pair of missiles today at a compound in the village of Darga Mandi in the Ghulam Khan area of North Waziristan.

Pakistani intelligence officials told Dawn that the four fighters were members of the Haqqani Network. The identities of the Haqqani Network fighters who were killed have not been disclosed.

The Haqqani Network is a powerful Taliban faction that operates in eastern, central, and northern Afghanistan, and is based in North Waziristan in Pakistan. The terror group has close links with al Qaeda, and is supported by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate. Siraj is the operational commander of the Haqqani Network and leads the Miramshah Shura, one of four major Taliban regional councils. Siraj is also a member of al Qaeda's Shura Majlis, or executive council, US intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal.

The US has launched 20 drone strikes in Pakistan so far this year, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal. The number of strikes in Pakistan has decreased since a peak in 2010, when 117 such attacks were recorded. In 2011, 64 strikes were launched in Pakistan, and in 2012 there were 46 strikes.

Read more: US drones kill 4 Haqqani Network fighters in North Waziristan strike - The Long War Journal

 

[TruthSeeker]

Mullah Sangeen Zadran, al Qaeda commander reported killed in drone strike

By BILL ROGGIO, September 6, 2013

Yesterday's drone strike in the Ghulam Khan area of Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan is reported to have killed Mullah Sangeen Zadran, a senior Haqqani Network leader who is on the US list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists for supporting al Qaeda, as well as an al Qaeda explosives expert from Egypt who is known as Zubir al Muzi.

Pakistani intelligence sources told Reuters that Sangeen is thought to have been among those killed in yesterday's airstrike on a compound that was carried out by the US. Additionally, "a source among insurgents" in the area said that Muzi was also killed in the strike.

US intelligence officials who track al Qaeda in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region told The Long War Journal that they are aware of the reports of the deaths of Sangeen and Muzi, but are waiting for confirmation.

Neither the Haqqani Network nor al Qaeda have released statements confirming or denying the reports of their deaths. Al Qaeda and the Haqqani Network often do not announce the deaths of military commanders.

Sangeen is a senior Haqqani Network leader who is on the US list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists for supporting al Qaeda and who holds a captured a US soldier in Afghanistan. Sangeen serves as the Taliban's shadow governor for Paktika province and is a top aide to Sirajuddin Haqqani, the operational commander of the Haqqani Network.

Muzi, the al Qaeda explosive expert, is a mid-level commander in al Qaeda's Lashkar al Zil, or Shadow Army, a US intelligence official told The Long War Journal. The Lashkar al Zil fields small conventional units in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and also embeds military trainers within Taliban units in both countries. These trainers provide instructions for battling security forces in local insurgencies as well as knowledge, expertise, funding, and resources to conduct local and international attacks.

The US Treasury Department officially acknowledged the existence of this unit when it added one such Pakistan-based trainer and commander of al Qaeda's "paramilitary brigades" to the list of global terrorists in June. [For more information on this unit, see LWJ report, Al Qaeda's paramilitary 'Shadow Army,' from February 2009.]

Sangeen and Muzi are the second pair of Haqqani Network and al Qaeda commanders reported to have been killed in drone strikes this summer. On July 2, a drone strike is said to have killed Abu Saif al Jaziri, a Lashkar al Zil commander, and Maulana Akhtar Zadran, a Haqqani Network officer.

Sangeen is closely allied with al Qaeda

Sangeen has long been a supporter of al Qaeda and has encouraged foreign fighters to wage jihad in Afghanistan. He appeared in several videos released over the past year that called for Turks and Kurds to fight in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

In the past, Sangeen has openly admitted the strong links between the Haqqani Network and al Qaeda. In an interview released in September 2009 by As Sahab, al Qaeda's top media outlet, Sangeen said al Qaeda and the Taliban "are all one and are united by Islam."

"We do not see any difference between Taliban and Al Qaeda, for we all belong to the religion of Islam. Sheikh Osama [bin Laden] has pledged allegiance to Amir Al-Mumineen [the Leader of the Faithful, Mullah Muhammad Omar] and has reassured his leadership again and again. There is no difference between us, for we are united by Islam and the Sharia governs us," Sangeen told As Sahab.

US military officials have told The Long War Journal that Sangeen is considered to be one of the most dangerous operational commanders in eastern Afghanistan. Sangeen has organized numerous assaults on US and Afghan combat outposts in the region, and is currently holding Bowe Bergdahl, the only US soldier captured alive in the Afghan theater.

Read more: Mullah Sangeen Zadran, al Qaeda commander reported killed in drone strike - The Long War Journal

 

[TruthSeeker]

Taliban confirm death of Badruddin Haqqani in drone strike last year

By BILL ROGGIO, September 8, 2013

The Taliban confirmed that Badruddin Haqqani, one of the top leaders in the Haqqani Network, a Taliban subgroup that is closely allied with al Qaeda, was killed by US forces. Although the Taliban did not state how Badruddin died, he is known to have been targeted in a US drone strike in the summer of 2012, and has long been rumored to have been killed.

The Taliban confirmed his death in a video that was released by Manba al Jihad, "a media unit of the Haqqani Network within the Afghan Taliban," according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which translated the video. The video was published on Sept. 8 on Voice of Jihad, the Taliban's official website.

"While the Afghan Taliban initially denied these reports, the video confirms his death and includes a statement from Mullah Muhammad Omar acknowledging it," SITE stated [see LWJ report, Badruddin Haqqani 'is alive and healthy,' Taliban spokesman says, for the official denial by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid].

"Footage shows Haqqani officials speaking about Badruddin, including Maulvi Sangeen [Mullah Sangeen Zadran] and Ahmad Jan Ghaznavi, and covers some of the operations in which he was involved," SITE continued. Sangeen, another top Haqqani network leader, is rumored to have been killed in a US drone strike late last week.

A Taliban fighter who participated in the June 25 suicide assault in Kabul said the attack was launched to avenge Badruddin. The fighter, who spoke in English, threatened "the Americans, and the Jews, and the non-Muslims, the European people."

"Did you, you martyred our leader, shaheed [martyr] hafiz [memorizer of the Qur'an] Badruddin Haqqani, rahimahullah [may Allah have mercy on him]," the fighter said, according to SITE. "You don't think we don't be happy about this, that you martyred our holy leader - you martyred our leader, and don't think you will be happy nowadays. Insha'Allah [Allah willing], know that we are going to get the revenge of our leader shaheed Badruddin Haqqani, and insha'Allah, you the leaders, you martyred ours, you martyred our leaders, insha'Allah, we have taken revenge for our leaders and we will take revenge for our leader shaheed hafiz Badruddin Haqqani, rahimahullah."

Badruddin is believed to have been killed in one of five drone strikes that took place between Aug. 18 and Aug. 24, 2012 in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan. Four of the five strikes took place in the Shawal Valley, an area known to be used by the Haqqani Network and a host of jihadist groups. The other took place in North Waziristan, the seat of power for the Haqqani Network [see LWJ report, Badruddin Haqqani rumored killed in US drone strike].

Badruddin was one of the Haqqani Network's most senior leaders. He is thought to have served as the top deputy to Sirajuddin Haqqani, the group's operational commander.

The US State Department added Badruddin to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists on May 11, 2011. In the designation, State said that he "sits on the Miramshah Shura [council], which has command and control over all Haqqani Network activities, and helps lead insurgents and foreign fighters in attacks against targets in southeastern Afghanistan."

The Miramshah Shura, also known as the Miramshah Regional Military Shura, is one of the Afghan Taliban's four regional commands. The US military and government often use the term "foreign fighters" to describe members of al Qaeda and allied terror groups operating along the Afghan-Pakistani border.

Jason Blazakis, the chief of the State Department's Terrorist Designations Unit, told The Long War Journal in May 2011 that Badruddin did indeed aid al Qaeda operatives in attacking US forces in Afghanistan.

"The foreign fighters supported by Badruddin include al Qaeda fighters," Blazakis said.

State also said that Badruddin was "believed to be in charge of kidnappings for the Haqqani Network." According to State, he "accepted responsibility for keeping New York Times reporter David Rohde hostage." Rohde was captured in November 2008, held in North Waziristan, and escaped in June 2009.

Badruddin was also one of several handlers for the fighters involved in the June 28, 2011 assault on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul. He was recorded while he issued instructions to one of the fighters, and was heard laughing during the attack that killed 11 civilians and two Afghan policemen as well as nine members of the attack team. The attack and the use of Pakistan-based handlers to direct the assault team is similar to at least three other attacks carried out by terror groups in the region, including Mumbai [see LWJ report, Haqqani Network directed Kabul hotel assault by phone from Pakistan].

Badruddin is one of nine Haqqani family members who have been designated by the US as global terrorists; all of them have ties to al Qaeda. His brother, Sirajuddin, is the overall leader of the Haqqani Network as well as the leader of the Miramshah Regional Military Shura. Siraj was designated by the State Department as a terrorist in March 2008; and in March 2009, the State Department put out a bounty of $5 million for information leading to his capture. US intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal that Siraj is a member of al Qaeda's top council.

Read more: Taliban confirm death of Badruddin Haqqani in drone strike last year - The Long War Journal

 

[TruthSeeker]

US drones kill 7 in North Waziristan strike

By BILL ROGGIO, September 22, 2013

The US killed seven suspected militants in a drone strike in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan. Today's strike is just the second in Pakistan this month.

The previous strike in Shawal, on June 7, killed a key Pakistani Taliban commander who was known as Mutaqi and Bahadar Khan.

In the past, the US has focused its operations on the Shawal Valley. Last year, 10 of the 46 drone strikes in Pakistan, or 22%, hit targets in the Shawal Valley. Targeting in the area was heavy during the summer of 2012; at one point in time, seven of 10 strikes took place there.

Al Qaeda, the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, and Taliban fighters under the command of Hafiz Gul Bahadar, the leader of the Taliban in North Waziristan, are all known to operate in the Shawal Valley, which is near the Afghan border. The area is used to launch attacks across the border in Afghanistan. Additionally, Central Asian terror groups are known to operate in the area. On July 1, 2012, a US drone strike killed several members of the Turkistan Islamic Party, an al Qaeda-affiliated group that operates in Pakistan, China, and Central Asia.

Bahadar administers the Shawal Valley. In 2009, after the Pakistani military launched an offensive in the Mehsud areas of South Waziristan, Bahadar sheltered the families of Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, and Waliur Rehman [see LWJ report, Taliban escape South Waziristan operation]. Earlier this year, the US killed Waliur Rehman along with his deputy Fakhar-ul-Islam, two Uzbeks, and three Taliban fighters in a drone strike in North Waziristan on May 29.

Today's strike in Shawal is the first since Sept. 5, when the US killed four Haqqani Network fighters. Mullah Sangeen Zadran, a senior Haqqani network leader, is rumored to have been killed in the strike. His death has not been confirmed.

Read more: US drones kill 7 in North Waziristan strike - The Long War Journal

 

[batmannow]

nice to see that happening?
thanks to USA, @Pakone? lolzz