The drones, besides killing civilians, have killed Haqqani operatives, operatives from the Mullah Nazir/Hafiz Gul Bahadur factions, in some cases, the TTP Mehsud faction in North & South Waziristan. The one that posed any real threat to Pakistan was the TTP Mehsud faction.
Twilight Of The Taliban : TTP Buckles Under Internal Fissures, External Pre
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Mercenary
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I did.
You carefully omitted that TTP leader Meshud was killed by a Drone strike.
---------- Post added at 10:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:56 PM ----------
Why would America waste a 10,000 dollar missile to kill civilians?
Collateral damage does occur but it kills far more terrorists than civilians.
American drones took TTP Leader. Your own logic defeats you.
---------- Post added at 10:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:57 PM ----------
And Baitullah Meshud was taken out in a Drone Strike.
I did.
You carefully omitted that TTP leader Meshud was killed by a Drone strike.
Where did I omit it? This is what I said in Post # 12.
Mercenary
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So I am little confused.
Are you saying when US Drones take out Al Qaeda Terrorists, Haqqani Network Terrorists or Afghan Taliban or Foreign Fighters excluding TTP, they don't help Pakistan?
Dance
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PAKISTAN: Mohammed Hasib lost his older brother in a car bombing two years ago that destroyed their small shop selling womans accessories and killed more than 100 people. He has since rebuilt and business is improving, thanks to a significant drop in militant violence in Pakistan this year.
The number of people killed in suicide attacks in Pakistan in the first 11 months of 2011 dropped almost 40 per cent compared to the same period last year, according to data compiled by the Pak Institute for Peace Studies. Deaths from all attacks by militants fell nearly 20 per cent.
This trend contrasts with rising violence in Afghanistan, where a suicide bomber killed 56 people outside a Shia Muslim shrine in Kabul on Tuesday who were marking a major Islamic holy day. A Pakistan-based group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Alami, reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack, although the validity of the claim could not be verified.
The most notable drop in Pakistan has been in mass-casualty attacks in large cities outside the northwest, such as Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik actually thanked the Pakistani Taliban on Tuesday for not staging attacks in the country during Ashura, when Shias commemorate the death of Imam Hussein.
Despite the decline, violence still takes a large human toll in the country in daily attacks, and no one is claiming victory. Nearly 1,700 people were killed in terrorist or insurgent attacks throughout November, according to the institute, excluding those in Baluchistan that were mostly carried out by nationalists, not militants. More than 670 people were killed in suicide attacks. The numbers killed in the same period last year were around 2,100 and 1,060, respectively.
The situation has improved, but people are still scared, said Hasib, 30, whose shop is located in the northwest city of Peshawars Mina bazaar. It will take time for people to fully recover.
The bombing on October 28, 2009, was so devastating that all Hasib was able to find of his brother, Mohammed Salim, was his identity card, in a gutter across the street from their shop. Hasib sold his house to rebuild the shop and married his brothers widow to take care of her and her two children, a common practice in some parts of Pakistan.
Peshawar, located on the edge of the tribal region and close to the Afghan border, has been the worst hit major Pakistani city. Police, army and civilian targets were bombed almost daily toward the end of 2009 after the military carried out a major offensive in South Waziristan, the Pakistani Talibans main sanctuary in the tribal region.
You cant imagine how terrible those days were for us, said Waris Khan Afridi, 58, president of the traders association in Peshawars Saddar bazaar. There were times when the bazaar was deserted and even shopkeepers werent coming.
Afridi and others said business has improved significantly over the last year, but is still down relative to the period before the Pakistani Taliban began their insurgency in earnest in 2007. The Saddar and Mina bazaars were bustling during a recent trip, packed with women buying new clothes for Pakistans wedding season.
The last major attack in Peshawar was in mid-September when a bomb planted on a motorcycle exploded in a market selling music and movies, killing five people.
Hasan-Askari Rizvi, a Pakistani political and defense analyst, said military operations in the tribal region and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province since the spring of 2009 have disrupted the militants, making it more difficult for them to train suicide bombers and transport them outside the northwest.
The operations have not been able to eliminate the militants altogether, but they have certainly weakened them, said Rizvi.
The military has carried out offensives in every part of the tribal region except North Waziristan. But no area is fully under control, and the government has struggled to undertake the kind of reconstruction and development that could address some of the root causes of militancy.
Mohammed Amir Rana, director of the Pak Institute for Peace Studies, said he believes US drone attacks are the chief reason behind the drop in violence. The attacks have killed key Taliban and al-Qaida commanders, something Pakistani military operations have largely failed to do.
Militant voice down, but fear remains | Pakistan | DAWN.COM
The number of people killed in suicide attacks in Pakistan in the first 11 months of 2011 dropped almost 40 per cent compared to the same period last year, according to data compiled by the Pak Institute for Peace Studies. Deaths from all attacks by militants fell nearly 20 per cent.
This trend contrasts with rising violence in Afghanistan, where a suicide bomber killed 56 people outside a Shia Muslim shrine in Kabul on Tuesday who were marking a major Islamic holy day. A Pakistan-based group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Alami, reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack, although the validity of the claim could not be verified.
The most notable drop in Pakistan has been in mass-casualty attacks in large cities outside the northwest, such as Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik actually thanked the Pakistani Taliban on Tuesday for not staging attacks in the country during Ashura, when Shias commemorate the death of Imam Hussein.
Despite the decline, violence still takes a large human toll in the country in daily attacks, and no one is claiming victory. Nearly 1,700 people were killed in terrorist or insurgent attacks throughout November, according to the institute, excluding those in Baluchistan that were mostly carried out by nationalists, not militants. More than 670 people were killed in suicide attacks. The numbers killed in the same period last year were around 2,100 and 1,060, respectively.
The situation has improved, but people are still scared, said Hasib, 30, whose shop is located in the northwest city of Peshawars Mina bazaar. It will take time for people to fully recover.
The bombing on October 28, 2009, was so devastating that all Hasib was able to find of his brother, Mohammed Salim, was his identity card, in a gutter across the street from their shop. Hasib sold his house to rebuild the shop and married his brothers widow to take care of her and her two children, a common practice in some parts of Pakistan.
Peshawar, located on the edge of the tribal region and close to the Afghan border, has been the worst hit major Pakistani city. Police, army and civilian targets were bombed almost daily toward the end of 2009 after the military carried out a major offensive in South Waziristan, the Pakistani Talibans main sanctuary in the tribal region.
You cant imagine how terrible those days were for us, said Waris Khan Afridi, 58, president of the traders association in Peshawars Saddar bazaar. There were times when the bazaar was deserted and even shopkeepers werent coming.
Afridi and others said business has improved significantly over the last year, but is still down relative to the period before the Pakistani Taliban began their insurgency in earnest in 2007. The Saddar and Mina bazaars were bustling during a recent trip, packed with women buying new clothes for Pakistans wedding season.
The last major attack in Peshawar was in mid-September when a bomb planted on a motorcycle exploded in a market selling music and movies, killing five people.
Hasan-Askari Rizvi, a Pakistani political and defense analyst, said military operations in the tribal region and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province since the spring of 2009 have disrupted the militants, making it more difficult for them to train suicide bombers and transport them outside the northwest.
The operations have not been able to eliminate the militants altogether, but they have certainly weakened them, said Rizvi.
The military has carried out offensives in every part of the tribal region except North Waziristan. But no area is fully under control, and the government has struggled to undertake the kind of reconstruction and development that could address some of the root causes of militancy.
Mohammed Amir Rana, director of the Pak Institute for Peace Studies, said he believes US drone attacks are the chief reason behind the drop in violence. The attacks have killed key Taliban and al-Qaida commanders, something Pakistani military operations have largely failed to do.
Militant voice down, but fear remains | Pakistan | DAWN.COM
Areesh
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He wants to say that killing one leader isn't of any help unless PA would have conducted comprehensive operations in those areas which it did. Drone attack might have killed on leader and have created dozens of other wanna be militants and suicide bombers so your "help" was overall useless.
Abu Zolfiqar
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i'm damn proud of that fact
let them kill eachother......saves us bullets
let them kill eachother......saves us bullets
On the run with Pakistan's Taliban - Yahoo! News
Nothing terrifies Pakistani Taliban fighter Tariq Wazir more than US drones, a harbinger of instant death invisible to the naked eye and proof of America's mastery of the skies.
Each time he hears the low hum reminiscent of a bumble bee, fear clutches his heart and he remembers how 20 of his comrades were pulverised by missiles they never saw coming in Pakistan's tribal badlands.
Gone are the days of communicating by phone and travelling freely. Instead he spends his days praying or reading newspapers in safe houses, moving under the cover of darkness, trying to keep one step ahead and stay alive.
An AFP reporter was this week given a tantalising glimpse of the day-to-day life of a group of Pakistani Taliban, travelling with them for four days between safe houses in North Waziristan.
He and three other journalists were invited to interview the head of the faction, Hakimullah Mehsud, or "another top Taliban leader" but the interview never materialised, due to what the Taliban said were "security reasons".
Instead, they spent each night on the move, resting by day in relatively comfortable mud-brick homes with kitchens, running water and toilets, offered freshly cooked meals and fizzy drinks.
It was a relatively sophisticated logistics operation that shows how embedded the Taliban are in North Waziristan, where the Pakistani military has resisted US pressure to launch a sweeping offensive.
Their fervour for fighting and hatred of the United States and the US-allied Pakistani government was plain to see.
But so too were lighter moments, like sunning themselves in the courtyard, reading the Urdu newspapers to keep abreast of events and listening to songs praising the glory of jihad blasted out of cassette players.
In the past three years, there have been 236 US drone strikes in Pakistan, killing at least 1,767 people. Taliban foot soldiers admit they have had a devastating impact on their lives.
"I lost 20 close friends in drone attacks. It's the biggest danger for us," said Wazir, a commander in North Waziristan who refuses to give his real name.
"It has restricted our movement. We take a lot of care before moving from one place to other, we avoid using the phone," he said.
Precautions have not been relaxed despite a one-month reprieve in missile strikes since November 17.
The Long War Journal quoted US intelligence officials as saying the attacks are "on hold" so as not to further strain the alliance with Islamabad after a NATO air strike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on November 26.
In response, Pakistan shut its Afghan border to NATO supplies and evicted US personnel from the Shamsi air base, a reported hub for CIA drones, although most of the aircraft are thought to take off from US bases in Afghanistan.
Pakistani officials concur there is a temporary moratorium on drone attacks, but witnesses say surveillance flights are incessant.
The Taliban fighters wear the uniform of any adult man in the tribal belt. They carry Kalashnikovs wherever they go, tuck pistols into their belts and sometimes sport hand grenades around their waists.
Dressed in traditional shirts that fall to the knees, caps rolled down over the ears, waistcoats and balloon-style trousers, they conceal their guns under the itchy folds of the blankets wrapped around the head and shoulders.
Aged mostly 22 to 42, all of them were bearded and Ameer Sahib -- a mark of respect -- was a common name for each other, at least in the presence of reporters.
At dusk, they were on the move, driving down lesser known tracks away from the prying eyes of informers. They picked their way gingerly, without lights. Hand torches can be used, but only in an emergency -- and then only briefly.
They sought shelter in one-storey mud homes, where blankets and old Afghan carpets provide a modicum of warmth. Women and children were never seen.
The fighters prepared their own food, collecting firewood from the mountains and sipping on green tea, offering the Mountain Dew soft drink to guests.
Halwa, a local sweet, was served on arrival. Dinners were generous helpings of beef, mutton or chicken, served up with rice, potatoes and vegetables.
Dried fruits and nuts are a popular snack, peanuts and cashews a particular favourite.
Looking through the newspaper, the Taliban pounced with delight on Iran's claim to have shot down the bat-winged RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone.
"See how Iran forced it to land! Why can't our government do this?" said one. "They are getting dollars, they have sold the whole of Pakistan to the Americans," replied a second militant.
Their hatred of the government stems from Islamabad's fractious alliance with Washington.
Pakistan has adopted a more aggressive tone towards Washington as relations have gone into free fall since a covert American raid in May killed Osama bin Laden, which some commentators have linked to a decline in militant attacks.
"Whenever Pakistan has tensions with America, we see calm here," smiled Wazir, a nod also to the let-up in drone strikes.
Several of the fighters told AFP that militancy runs in the family.
Habib-Ur-Rehman Mehsud, who said he had survived two drone strikes, said his father and uncle died fighting the Soviets in the mid-1980s in Afghanistan.
His entire family fled a Pakistani military offensive in 2009.
"It's a reality that drones are the major threat to us but it is also a reality that Pakistan provided all the information to the Americans," he said.
Mujeeb-Ur-Rehman, 25, another Taliban fighter, said he lost his elder brother in a drone strike in the Mir Ali area of Waziristan in 2010.
Abdul Salam, who comes from near Miranshah, the capital of North Waziristan, said his brother, younger sister and father were killed by a drone in 2009.
He said he wanted to go to Afghanistan and fight against the Americans who killed his family. "My basic duty is to fight jihad. Avenging my family comes second."
Nothing terrifies Pakistani Taliban fighter Tariq Wazir more than US drones, a harbinger of instant death invisible to the naked eye and proof of America's mastery of the skies.
Each time he hears the low hum reminiscent of a bumble bee, fear clutches his heart and he remembers how 20 of his comrades were pulverised by missiles they never saw coming in Pakistan's tribal badlands.
Gone are the days of communicating by phone and travelling freely. Instead he spends his days praying or reading newspapers in safe houses, moving under the cover of darkness, trying to keep one step ahead and stay alive.
An AFP reporter was this week given a tantalising glimpse of the day-to-day life of a group of Pakistani Taliban, travelling with them for four days between safe houses in North Waziristan.
He and three other journalists were invited to interview the head of the faction, Hakimullah Mehsud, or "another top Taliban leader" but the interview never materialised, due to what the Taliban said were "security reasons".
Instead, they spent each night on the move, resting by day in relatively comfortable mud-brick homes with kitchens, running water and toilets, offered freshly cooked meals and fizzy drinks.
It was a relatively sophisticated logistics operation that shows how embedded the Taliban are in North Waziristan, where the Pakistani military has resisted US pressure to launch a sweeping offensive.
Their fervour for fighting and hatred of the United States and the US-allied Pakistani government was plain to see.
But so too were lighter moments, like sunning themselves in the courtyard, reading the Urdu newspapers to keep abreast of events and listening to songs praising the glory of jihad blasted out of cassette players.
In the past three years, there have been 236 US drone strikes in Pakistan, killing at least 1,767 people. Taliban foot soldiers admit they have had a devastating impact on their lives.
"I lost 20 close friends in drone attacks. It's the biggest danger for us," said Wazir, a commander in North Waziristan who refuses to give his real name.
"It has restricted our movement. We take a lot of care before moving from one place to other, we avoid using the phone," he said.
Precautions have not been relaxed despite a one-month reprieve in missile strikes since November 17.
The Long War Journal quoted US intelligence officials as saying the attacks are "on hold" so as not to further strain the alliance with Islamabad after a NATO air strike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on November 26.
In response, Pakistan shut its Afghan border to NATO supplies and evicted US personnel from the Shamsi air base, a reported hub for CIA drones, although most of the aircraft are thought to take off from US bases in Afghanistan.
Pakistani officials concur there is a temporary moratorium on drone attacks, but witnesses say surveillance flights are incessant.
The Taliban fighters wear the uniform of any adult man in the tribal belt. They carry Kalashnikovs wherever they go, tuck pistols into their belts and sometimes sport hand grenades around their waists.
Dressed in traditional shirts that fall to the knees, caps rolled down over the ears, waistcoats and balloon-style trousers, they conceal their guns under the itchy folds of the blankets wrapped around the head and shoulders.
Aged mostly 22 to 42, all of them were bearded and Ameer Sahib -- a mark of respect -- was a common name for each other, at least in the presence of reporters.
At dusk, they were on the move, driving down lesser known tracks away from the prying eyes of informers. They picked their way gingerly, without lights. Hand torches can be used, but only in an emergency -- and then only briefly.
They sought shelter in one-storey mud homes, where blankets and old Afghan carpets provide a modicum of warmth. Women and children were never seen.
The fighters prepared their own food, collecting firewood from the mountains and sipping on green tea, offering the Mountain Dew soft drink to guests.
Halwa, a local sweet, was served on arrival. Dinners were generous helpings of beef, mutton or chicken, served up with rice, potatoes and vegetables.
Dried fruits and nuts are a popular snack, peanuts and cashews a particular favourite.
Looking through the newspaper, the Taliban pounced with delight on Iran's claim to have shot down the bat-winged RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone.
"See how Iran forced it to land! Why can't our government do this?" said one. "They are getting dollars, they have sold the whole of Pakistan to the Americans," replied a second militant.
Their hatred of the government stems from Islamabad's fractious alliance with Washington.
Pakistan has adopted a more aggressive tone towards Washington as relations have gone into free fall since a covert American raid in May killed Osama bin Laden, which some commentators have linked to a decline in militant attacks.
"Whenever Pakistan has tensions with America, we see calm here," smiled Wazir, a nod also to the let-up in drone strikes.
Several of the fighters told AFP that militancy runs in the family.
Habib-Ur-Rehman Mehsud, who said he had survived two drone strikes, said his father and uncle died fighting the Soviets in the mid-1980s in Afghanistan.
His entire family fled a Pakistani military offensive in 2009.
"It's a reality that drones are the major threat to us but it is also a reality that Pakistan provided all the information to the Americans," he said.
Mujeeb-Ur-Rehman, 25, another Taliban fighter, said he lost his elder brother in a drone strike in the Mir Ali area of Waziristan in 2010.
Abdul Salam, who comes from near Miranshah, the capital of North Waziristan, said his brother, younger sister and father were killed by a drone in 2009.
He said he wanted to go to Afghanistan and fight against the Americans who killed his family. "My basic duty is to fight jihad. Avenging my family comes second."
I am? Did somebody make a thread on this subject?
Yesterday - I red this topic
Well sorry then, been busy so I was behind the times.
Pakistan is already developing their own drones.
BATMAN
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We don't mind head start in busting TTP a$$
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