Drone strike kills 5 Pakistani Taliban leaders - Washington Post
By Haq Nawaz Khan and Karin Brulliard, Thursday, October 27, 4:29 PM
PESHAWAR, Pakistan A suspected American drone attack on Thursday killed five leaders of a Pakistani Taliban branch that, local officials said, uses a base in this countrys remote borderlands to stage attacks on international troops in Afghanistan.
The region is off-limits to journalists and foreigners, making independent verification of drone strikes and casualties nearly impossible.
Among the militants killed, a Pakistan security official said, was Khan Mohammad, a trusted deputy of the prominent Taliban commander Maulvi Nazir.
Nazirs stronghold is the South Waziristan city of Wana. Unlike many other domestic Taliban factions, his fighters focus their strikes inside Afghanistan, not Pakistan. Nazir is widely believed to have a peace agreement with the Pakistani military.
The CIA has recently stepped up drone strikes in Pakistan, which has come under withering criticism from U.S. officials and lawmakers for failing to rein in Islamist militants on its soil.
Many of the recent drone strikes have targeted the Haqqani network, an Afghan faction that U.S. officials say is supported by Pakistan.
U.S. officials do not openly discuss or acknowledge the drone program, and though Pakistan tacitly allows the program, officials publicly denounce the strikes, which are hugely unpopular here.
The two nations have shared intelligence for targeting purposes in the past, but that sort of collaboration dwindled over the past year, Pakistani intelligence officials say, as bilateral relations soured.
Recently, however, cooperation has been improving, both sides say. A Pakistani intelligence official says that information shared by Pakistan helped lead to the killing of a senior Haqqani network leader in a CIA drone strike earlier this month. That claim could not be confirmed with U.S. officials.
The five militants killed Thursday were traveling back from Afghanistan when their vehicle was struck by six drone-fired missiles, the security official said. The attack also killed one of Nazirs brothers, the official said.
Taliban fighters quickly arrived at the scene to clear away the bodies, according to an official with the political administration in Wana, which lies in Pakistans semi-autonomous tribal areas.
Brulliard reported from Islamabad. Special Correspondent Shaiq Hussain contributed from Islamabad.
Drone strike kills 5 Pakistani Taliban leaders - The Washington Post
By Haq Nawaz Khan and Karin Brulliard, Thursday, October 27, 4:29 PM
PESHAWAR, Pakistan A suspected American drone attack on Thursday killed five leaders of a Pakistani Taliban branch that, local officials said, uses a base in this countrys remote borderlands to stage attacks on international troops in Afghanistan.
The region is off-limits to journalists and foreigners, making independent verification of drone strikes and casualties nearly impossible.
Among the militants killed, a Pakistan security official said, was Khan Mohammad, a trusted deputy of the prominent Taliban commander Maulvi Nazir.
Nazirs stronghold is the South Waziristan city of Wana. Unlike many other domestic Taliban factions, his fighters focus their strikes inside Afghanistan, not Pakistan. Nazir is widely believed to have a peace agreement with the Pakistani military.
The CIA has recently stepped up drone strikes in Pakistan, which has come under withering criticism from U.S. officials and lawmakers for failing to rein in Islamist militants on its soil.
Many of the recent drone strikes have targeted the Haqqani network, an Afghan faction that U.S. officials say is supported by Pakistan.
U.S. officials do not openly discuss or acknowledge the drone program, and though Pakistan tacitly allows the program, officials publicly denounce the strikes, which are hugely unpopular here.
The two nations have shared intelligence for targeting purposes in the past, but that sort of collaboration dwindled over the past year, Pakistani intelligence officials say, as bilateral relations soured.
Recently, however, cooperation has been improving, both sides say. A Pakistani intelligence official says that information shared by Pakistan helped lead to the killing of a senior Haqqani network leader in a CIA drone strike earlier this month. That claim could not be confirmed with U.S. officials.
The five militants killed Thursday were traveling back from Afghanistan when their vehicle was struck by six drone-fired missiles, the security official said. The attack also killed one of Nazirs brothers, the official said.
Taliban fighters quickly arrived at the scene to clear away the bodies, according to an official with the political administration in Wana, which lies in Pakistans semi-autonomous tribal areas.
Brulliard reported from Islamabad. Special Correspondent Shaiq Hussain contributed from Islamabad.
Drone strike kills 5 Pakistani Taliban leaders - The Washington Post
