US Drone strikes in Pakistan are illegal under international law.

[mdcp]

This is blind terrorism by americans killing innocent people
Its like if someone does not agree with us just shoot him
Many innocent people killed including children, women, elders and young ppl who's fault is they dont have any money and place to relocate

 

[Hulk]

U.S. Drones Pound Pakistan, Which Responds by Doing Exactly Nothing | Danger Room | Wired.com
U.S. Drones Pound Pakistan, Which Responds by Doing Exactly Nothing

Make that seven U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan during the first 10 days of 2013. But the recent uptick in drone strikes hasn’t yet coincided with a resurgence in Pakistani outrage that marred Washington’s relationship with Islamabad in 2012.

At least five people are dead in a drone strike near Mir Ali, in North Waziristan, launched on Thursday. That makes seven drone strikes in Pakistan since 2013 began, with an estimated death toll, according to Danger Room’s tally, of at least 40 people. (One of the strikes on Tuesday killed a “key al-Qaida commander” named Sheikh Yasin al-Kuwaiti, the Long War Journal reports.) By contrast, in 2012, the U.S. launched 43 drone strikes in Pakistan, with an average pause of between 7 and 8 days between them. Even beyond the drones, Thursday was a violent day in Pakistan: A pair of bombings in Baluchistan left at least 32 people dead and more than 100 wounded.

Some observers are starting to think the drop off in U.S. drone strikes was a strategic pause — buying time before a ramp-up that appears to be underway, even before White House drone overseer John Brennan becomes CIA director.

The reaction from Pakistan has been “noticeably muted,” as the Associated Press observes. The Pakistani government has yet to issue a condemnation of the new strikes. The Pakistani ambassador to the United States, Sherry Rehman, was said to be traveling; other Pakistani officials in Washington have yet to respond to Danger Room’s request for comment.

According to Pakistani press reports, tribesman rallied on Saturday in the “thousands” to protest the killing of Taliban commander Maulvi Nazir, who had reached a truce with the Pakistani military. So far, the main Pakistani politician speaking out against the drones is Imran Khan, who condemned the new strikes on Sunday as a violation of Pakistani sovereignty.

Khan led a high-profile pilgrimage last year to Taliban-controlled parts of South Waziristan to raise Pakistani awareness about the U.S.’ lethal drone campaign. Although Khan had to turn back because of the security risk, his march was part of a year of setbacks for Washington’s relationship with Pakistan.

For the first half of the year, Pakistan blocked NATO logistics shipments through its territory, in protest of a chaotic November 2011 U.S. assault in eastern Afghanistan that left 24 Pakistani soldiers dead. It took a U.S. apology for Pakistan to reopen its border to trucks resupplying the Afghanistan war. The closure reflected lingering acrimony in Islamabad related to U.S. counterterrorism efforts, from the drones to the Afghanistan war, and especially the unilateral Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden. While the Pakistani had quietly tolerated the drone campaign for years, in December 2011 it kicked the CIA out of a Pakistani airbase it had loaned the agency for years.

“We will seek an end to drone strikes and there will be no compromise on that,” Amb. Rehman told the Aspen Security Forum in July.

Reportedly, Pakistan’s spy chief, Lt. Gen. Zaheerul Islam, reiterated that demand in a summer meeting at Langley with then-CIA director David Petraeus. The U.S. drone strikes hardly ended in 2012, but the U.S. launched fewer of them in Pakistan than at any time since President Obama took office.

It’s still very early in 2013, but some are starting to think the drone reprieve is done. The U.S. needed to slow the the drones’ roll in 2012, a former Pakistani official tells Danger Room, so that anti-U.S. anger in Islamabad could die down. At a certain, unknown point, the ex-official added, an uptick in drone strikes will prompt greater official Pakistani outrage. But until then, the U.S. has some leeway to attack (especially if the U.S. offs militants that the Pakistani army and intelligence service want killed).

That outrage may not sway Washington. At the White House, Brennan has had little sympathy for the concerns of Pakistani intelligence, according to the former official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Brennan is do-what-we-must,” the former official added, citing the unilateral bin Laden raid as evidence. Should Pakistani officials break their silence about the drone escalation, they may soon encounter a deaf ear at Langley.

 

[indian_foxhound]

PESHAWAR , Pakistan — U.S. drone-fired missiles hit a house in Pakistan’s northwest tribal region Thursday, killing five suspected militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said. It was the seventh such attack in less than two weeks. The recent spate of strikes has been one of the most intense in the past two years, a period in which political tensions between the U.S. and Pakistan led to a reduced number of attacks compared to 2010, when they were at their most frequent. It’s unclear whether the current uptick has been caused by particularly valuable intelligence obtained by the CIA, or whether the warming of relations between the two countries has made strikes less sensitive. Protests by the government and Islamic hardliners have been noticeably muted. The U.S. views drone attacks as a key weapon against Taliban and al-Qaida militants out of its forces’ reach in Pakistan’s tribal region. But the attacks are extremely unpopular in Pakistan, posing a problem for the Pakistani government, which has played a double game in the past of denouncing the strikes in public while supporting some of them in private. The strike on Thursday occurred in a village near Mir Ali, one of the main towns in the North Waziristan tribal area, said Pakistani intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. North Waziristan is next to the Afghan border and is the main militant sanctuary in Pakistan. The U.S. has repeatedly pushed Pakistan to launch a military offensive in the area, but Islamabad has refused, saying its troops are stretched too thin fighting domestic militants who pose a threat to the state. However , many analysts believe Pakistan is reluctant to target Afghan Taliban militants with whom it has historical ties and who could be useful allies in Afghanistan after foreign forces withdraw. Pakistan is also worried about potential backlash from militants who have so far directed their fight against coalition forces in Afghanistan rather than the Pakistani state. Thursday’s strike occurred in an area dominated by powerful militant commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who is believed to have a nonaggression pact with the Pakistani military. A drone attack on Jan. 2 in the neighboring South Waziristan tribal area killed another such commander, Maulvi Nazir, who also had a truce with the Pakistani army. His death could complicate the military’s fight against Pakistani Taliban militants in the area who have been waging a bloody insurgency against the government for the past few years. The Pakistani and Afghan branches of the Taliban are allied but have focused their fights against different enemies. U.S. drone strikes have mainly focused on members of the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaida but have also occasionally targeted the Pakistani Taliban. U.S. missiles killed nine Pakistani Taliban fighters in South Waziristan on Jan. 6. A drone strike killed the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, in South Waziristan in August 2009. Islamabad has been understandably less opposed to strikes that target the Pakistani Taliban since the group poses a direct threat to the government. It’s unclear whether the most recent strike was part of an effort to reduce government opposition to the drone program in the country. Many Pakistanis oppose the attacks because they believe they mostly kill civilians, an allegation denied by the U.S. Independent research indicates that a majority of the people killed are militants, but civilian casualties also occur. President Obama ramped up drone strikes in Pakistan when he took office in 2009. There were 53 attacks that year, more than in the previous five years combined, according to the Long War Journal website, which tracks the strikes. Since Dec. 28, there have been seven drone attacks, according to an Associated Press count. The AP counts an attack that hits multiple adjacent targets as a single strike. The annual tally of attacks peaked in 2010 at 117 but declined over the next two years as tension between the U.S. and Pakistan increased, especially over the covert raid that killed Osama bin Laden in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad in May 2011, and the accidental death of 24 Pakistani troops in U.S. airstrikes in November 2011. There were 64 attacks in 2011 and 46 in 2012, according to the Long War Journal. Relations between the U.S. and Pakistan have slowly improved over the last six months after the U.S. apologized for the deaths of the Pakistani soldiers.
http://www.breitbart.com/system/wire/DA3N8CRG1

 

[TruthSeeker]

Prominent al Qaeda leader killed in drone strike in 2012

By BILL ROGGIO, February 6, 2013

Al Qaeda announced the death of Abd el Kader Mahmoud Mohamed el Sayed, a longtime senior jihadist leader and military commander who was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan sometime in the spring of 2012. El Sayed, also known as Abu Saleh al Masri, had been a member of al Qaeda since the early 1990s and had served in multiple jihadist theaters, including in Italy. He commanded al Qaeda forces along the Afghan-Pakistan border before being killed along with his son.

While in Italy, el Sayed was associated with the Via Quaranta mosque and the Islamic Cultural Institute, two radical Islamist centers linked to terror plots. El Sayed was recorded by Italian intelligence several times while discussing terrorist plots against the West. In one conversation, he was recorded while speaking to Abd al Salam al Hilah, a member of Yemen's Political Security Organization (PSO) and a current Guantanamo detainee, who "had foreknowledge of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the 2000 attack on the UK Embassy in Sanaa...the 2000 attack on the USS COLE, a planned attack on the US or British Embassy in Sanaa that was to occur in October 2002, and probably the 11 September 2001 terrorist attack," according to a leaked Guantanamo intelligence assessment. That same assessment described el Sayed as Osama bin Laden's "ambassador" to Italy and the Egyptian Islamic Jihad's "top document forger." [For more information, see LWJ report, Yemeni government official doubled as al Qaeda operative, leaked assessment shows.]

According to al Bahtiti, Osama bin Laden, Zawahiri, and Mohammed Atef, al Qaeda's military commander who was killed in November 2001, and other "emigrant brothers" had "rejoiced" at his arrival. El Sayed then officially "pledged allegiance to Sheikh Osama," despite the fact that he served as an al Qaeda operative for years.

El Sayed traveled to Afghanistan with Abu Ayyub al Masri, the Egyptian al Qaeda leader who became the emir of al Qaeda in Iraq after Abu Musab al Zarqawi was killed by the US in June 2006. Like el Sayed, Abu Ayyub al Masri was a close associate of Zawahiri.

After the US invasion of Afghanistan in the fall of 2001, el Sayed left Afghanistan along with other al Qaeda leaders.

"So he went to neighboring Pakistan and stayed in it for a period of time aiding the mujahideen brothers and traveling to different locations, then after he finished his job and fulfilled his duty, he went to Iran," al Bahtiti said.

Once in Iran, el Sayed was placed under protective custody along with his family and other al Qaeda leaders and operatives. He was in custody for eight years, and then released by Iran. Al Qaeda leaders and operatives are known to shelter in Iran under a loose form of house arrest by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, and move from there into Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other countries.

After leaving Iran, el Sayed traveled to Pakistan's tribal agency of South Waziristan, a bastion for al Qaeda, the Taliban, and a host of jihadist groups. Once there, he took command of an al Qaeda fighting unit that operated against US and NATO forces in Paktika province in Afghanistan.

"After he reached Waziristan, he took charge of the [Angoor Ada] front in Afghanistan, and Allah granted him success in inflicting grave damage to the Crusader enemy, and he had many ****** activities and actions," the martyrdom statement said.

Al Qaeda is known to operate military units in eastern Afghanistan, under the aegis of the Lashkar al Zil, or the Shadow Army. Al Qaeda occasionally releases martyrdom statements of fighters killed in eastern Afghanistan, and US special operations forces have conducted numerous raids against al Qaeda operatives in Paktika province over the past several years. Additionally, a document seized at Osama bin Laden's safe house in Abbottabad, Pakistan, stated that al Qaeda had several "companies" that operate in Pakistan's tribal areas.

According to el Sayed's martyrdom statement, he was killed along with his son, Saleh, sometime "in Rajab 1433H [May-June 2012] via the bombing of an unmanned drone." Saleh, who was born sometime in 1993, was either 18 or 19 when killed.

Saleh had "accompanied his father in the fighting fronts and did jihad with him until Allah fated that he go with him, so he was bombed along with his father and martyred beside him."

The date and location of the strike that killed el Sayed and his son were not provided in the biography. The US carried out 11 drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal agency of North Waziristan in the months of May and June 2012.

Read more: Prominent al Qaeda leader killed in drone strike in 2012 - The Long War Journal

 

[TruthSeeker]

US drones strike in remote area of North Waziristan

By BILL ROGGIO, February 6, 2013

The US launched an airstrike in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan today, killing five "militants" in an area known to host al Qaeda and other foreign terror groups. The drone strike is the first recorded in Pakistan in nearly four weeks.

The CIA-operated, remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers fired upwards of six missiles at a compound in the Spin Wam area of North Waziristan. The airstrike leveled the compound and killed five people and wounded several more, according to reports from the region.

The target of the strike has not been identified, and no senior Taliban or al Qaeda commanders have been reported killed at this time.

The Spin Wam area is close to the tribal agency of Kurram, another hotspot for the Taliban and a host of Pakistani and foreign terror groups. The US has conducted at least one strike in Spin Wam, on Oct. 27, 2010. Two "militants" were killed in the attack.

Today's strike broke a 26-day pause in the attacks in Pakistan; the last strike was on Jan. 10. The US has launched eight drone strikes in Pakistan so far this year.

Four senior and midlevel al Qaeda and Taliban leaders are reported to have been killed in the eight strikes since the beginning of 2013. The US killed Mullah Nazir, the leader of a Taliban group in South Waziristan who was closely allied with Bahadar, al Qaeda, and the Afghan Taliban, in a strike on Jan. 3. In a second strike on Jan. 3, the US killed Faisal Khan, a Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan commander. In one of two strikes on Jan. 6, the US killed Wali Mohammed, a Taliban commander who is said to have directed suicide operations for the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. And in one of the two strikes on Jan. 8, an al Qaeda leader known as Sheikh Yasin Al Kuwaiti is reported to have been killed.

Read more: US drones strike in remote area of North Waziristan - The Long War Journal

 

[TruthSeeker]

2 al Qaeda operatives killed in latest drone strike in North Waziristan

By BILL ROGGIO, February 8, 2013

The US killed two foreign al Qaeda fighters, including an "explosives expert," in a drone strike today in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of South Waziristan. The strike is the second by the US in three days.

The CIA-operated, remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers fired two missiles at a compound in the Babarghar area of South Waziristan. The airstrike leveled the compound and killed seven "militants," including two Arab al Qaeda operatives and four Uzbeks, and wounded five more, according to Dawn.

The two Arabs were identified as Sheikh Abu Waqas, a Yemeni explosives expert, and Abu Majid al Iraqi. The four Uzbeks, who were likely from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, an al Qaeda ally, were not identified. The strike took place as the foreign fighters were having dinner with members of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, according to Dawn.

The US conducted one other strike in Babarghar this year; Wali Mohammed, who was a suicide attack planner for the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, was reported to have been killed in the strike along with nine other fighters and seven civilians.

Read more: 2 al Qaeda operatives killed in latest drone strike in North Waziristan - The Long War Journal

 

[fatman17]

Drones

•According to an article published by The News, the Political Agent for North Waziristan submitted a report of drone casualties from 2008 to 2012 to the Peshawar High Court on Thursday. The report states that approximately 894 people were killed and another 211 injured by drones in the last five years. According to the report, of those killed in 147 attacks, 48 were reportedly foreigners, 35 were women, and 24 were children.[15]

 

[fatman17]

The Year of the Drone


An Analysis of U.S. Drone Strikes in Pakistan, 2004-2013


Home | About | Methodology | Key Observations | Leaders Killed
2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2004-2007

In Brief:

Strikes: 350 [48 under President Bush]

Total killed: 1,963 to 3,293 [389-556 under President Bush]

Militants killed: 1,533 - 2,658 [205-350 under President Bush]

Unknown Killed: 200-330 [65-72 under President Bush]

Civilians Killed: 261-305 [118-135 under President Bush]

Non-militant fatality rate under President Bush: 41%

Non-militants fatality rate under President Obama: 16%

Estimated Total Deaths from U.S. Drone Strikes in Pakistan,
2004 - 2013*
Year...Militant Low...Militant High...Unknown Low...Unknown High...Civilian Low...Civilian High...Total Low...Total High
2013...44...............53.................3...................5....................0................0..................47.............58
2012...197..............317...............19.................31...................5................5..................221...........349
2011...304..............488...............31.................36...................56..............64.................367...........600
2010...555..............960...............38.................50...................16..............21.................611...........1,028
2009...241..............508...............44.................136.................66..............80..................354...........721
2008...157..............265...............49.................54...................23..............28..................229..........347
2004-7..43..............76................16.................18...................95..............107................155...........200
Total...1,533...........2,658............200................330.................261.............305................1,963.......3,293

*Through February 11, 2013


(based on annual averages)
Types of Casualties Per Year
(calculated using high and low ends of range)

Year.......Militant....Unknown...Civilian
2012......89%.........9%...........2%
2011......80%.........8-18%......1-15%
2010......94%.........5-6%........2-3%
2009......69-70%....12-19%.....11-19%
2008......80-84%....16-21%.....8-10%
2004-7...35-43%....9-10%......54-61%
TOTAL....84-85%....9-13%......14-19%


new american foundation

 

[fatman17]

Drone Strikes in Pakistan


By krepon | 2 March 2013


Drones provide essential surveillance, thereby helping to protect US forces and national security interests. Drone strikes are meant to serve the same purposes, but they have become a recruiting tool for militancy. Are drone strikes necessary, and if so, under what criteria? Do the current pattern and number of drone strikes advance or harm US national security interests?

These questions apply mostly to Pakistan, where over 300 drone strikes have taken place during the Obama administration. There are several possible explanations for strikes in the lawless hinterlands of Pakistan. The most persuasive one is that they help save the lives of US and NATO soldiers operating in Afghanistan. Other possible explanations are that drone strikes shore up a weak Afghan government, help leverage a political settlement — assuming one can be negotiated – and eliminate Taliban fighters that the administration deems to be associated with al-Qaeda – fighters that are not challenged by the Pakistani military. Drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal belt have grown because these objectives are entwined, and because other military means are not available.


A disentanglement of the objectives behind drone strikes could help clarify their utility. If the primary reason for drone strikes is force protection, we can expect far fewer of them once American and allied servicemen and women leave Afghanistan. If, alternatively, drone strikes have become a means to compensate for reduced US force levels, the limitations of the Afghan government and its military forces, as well as Pakistan’s unwillingness or inability to sever ties with anti-US militias, drone strikes can continue to be regular occurrences after 2014 — and might extend into Afghanistan.

A durable, legal, policy framework to guide US counterterrorism efforts, which President Obama seeks, requires a prioritization of targets and objectives. Does the administration believe that drone strikes can affect outcomes in Afghanistan? How does the administration define the “associates” of al-Qaeda in “leadership” positions that pose “imminent” threats requiring drone strikes in Pakistan? Most leaders of extremist groups with global reach are more likely to find safe havens in Pakistan’s cities than in its tribal belt. As a consequence, drone strikes limited to Pakistan’s hinterlands usually aim at the body, but not the head, of militant groups.

US national security interests in Pakistan far surpass those in Afghanistan. And yet, US policy on drone strikes has weakened ties to Pakistan without having an appreciable, positive impact on the outcome of the war in Afghanistan. If drone strikes are primarily required to protect US forces as they withdraw from Afghanistan, associated penalties will be temporary in nature. Alternatively, if the administration’s definitions of “associates,” “leadership,” and “imminent” are elastic, the costs of drone strikes can continue at a high level and can expand in geographical scope.

Despite the Pakistan military’s ambiguous role in counter-terrorism efforts, it receives significant coalition support funding from the Congress. These funds provide compensation for logistical support more than anything else. Coalition support funding has not stopped the planning and execution of attacks on US and NATO from safe havens on Pakistani soil.

If the efficacy of a military tactic does not outweigh the costs of employing it, reconsideration is warranted. The steep draw-down of US forces from Afghanistan provides an opportunity for a review of both drone strikes within and coalition support funding to Pakistan. The latter can be sized to actual counter-terrorism operations; the former can be pared down greatly.

 

[Kompromat]

 

[TruthSeeker]

2 'militants' reported killed in US drone strike in Pakistan

By BILL ROGGIO, March 10, 2013

US drones are reported to have killed two "militants," including a "foreign national," as they rode on horseback in the terrorist hub of Datta Khel in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan. The strike today is the first reported by the US in Pakistan in 29 days.

The CIA-operated, remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers fired two missiles at a pair of "militants" as they were riding horses in the village of Degan in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan. The two militants and their horses are reported to have been killed, Pakistani intelligence officials told Dawn.

The identities and affiliation of those killed have not been disclosed. AFP reported that a "foreign national" was killed in the strike.

Today's strike in North Waziristan is the first reported in Pakistan's tribal areas since Feb. 8, when US drones killed two Arab al Qaeda operatives and four Uzbeks in North Waziristan. The Arabs were identified as Sheikh Abu Waqas, a Yemeni explosives expert, and Abu Majid al Iraqi. The four Uzbeks, who were likely from the al Qaeda-allied Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, were not identified. The strike took place as the foreign fighters were having dinner with members of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. A previous strike, on Feb. 6 in North Waziristan, is said to have killed five militants.

The two strikes in February have recently stirred up some controversy. The New York Times reported earlier this month that those two strikes were not carried out by the US. The report was based on interviews with "three American officials with knowledge of the program." The officials claimed one of the strikes was likely a Pakistani operation and that the other explosion may have been caused by infighting within the Taliban.

However, US intelligence officials involved with the drone program in Pakistan have told The Long War Journal that the two February strikes were indeed US operations.

Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations, the military's public relations branch, denied The New York Times report and claimed it was a "distortion of the facts and seems to be aimed at diluting Pakistan's stance on drone strikes."

Read more: 2 'militants' reported killed in US drone strike in Pakistan - The Long War Journal

 

[Bhai Zakir]

U.S. drone kills 4, Pakistani sources say



(CNN) -- At least four people were killed when missiles thought to be from a U.S. drone struck a militant compound in tribal North Waziristan on Sunday, Pakistani military sources told CNN.

Two missiles hit a compound in the village of Data Khel, the sources said.

The officials asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

North Waziristan is one of seven districts of Pakistan and borders Afghanistan.

The U.S. routinely does not comment on suspected drone strikes.


Pakistan officials: U.S. drone kills 4 - CNN.com

 

[TruthSeeker]

US drones kill five in North Waziristan

April 15, 2013 Agencies

MIRANSHAH - At least five militants have been killed by a US drone strike on Sunday in North Waziristan.
The attack took place in Datta Khel town, 35 kilometres west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan which borders Afghanistan.

Six US drones flew over the area when one of them fired two missiles at a compound in the Manzarkhel area of the town.
“The drones kept hovering at the compound for a while and then one drone fired two missiles at the time of sunset,” a local security official said. “At least five militants were killed in the strike,” said the official.

Another security official in Peshawar confirmed the attack and the casualties.

An eyewitness said that the compound caught fire after the strike leaving all the bodies burnt. “The bodies of the militants were severely burnt and it was hard to identify them,” Haji Gul Badin, a local shopkeeper, told AFP.

The covert strikes are publicly criticised by the Pakistani government as a violation of sovereignty but American officials believe they are a vital weapon in the war against militants.

US drones kill five in North Waziristan

 

[TruthSeeker]

Al Qaeda intelligence chief reported killed in drone strike

By BILL ROGGIO, April 22, 2013

Abu Ubaydah Abdullah al Adam, a senior al Qaeda leader who serves as the intelligence chief for the terror group, is reported to have been killed in a recent US drone strike in Pakistan's tribal areas. The report is unconfirmed, and al Qaeda has not issued an official statement regarding al Adam.

Two jihadists, identified as Al Wathiq Billah and Barod, posted on Twitter on April 20 that al Adam was killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which obtained the tweets. Barod "indicated he was killed that day," according to SITE.

No drone strikes were reported in Pakistan on April 20, but an attack was reported on April 17 in South Waziristan. The last US drone strike reported in North Waziristan took place on April 14 in the Datta Khel area, which is a known haven for al Qaeda's top leaders. Several senior al Qaeda leaders and military commanders have been killed in drone strikes in the Datta Khel area.

The two jihadists' claims that al Adam was killed in a drone strike are not official confirmation that he is indeed dead. Al Qaeda has not released an official martyrdom statement announcing his death.

US intelligence officials involved in the targeting of al Qaeda's network in the Afghan and Pakistan region who were contacted by The Long War Journal would neither confirm nor deny the reports of his death, but said they are aware of the reports.

One intelligence official said that al Adam "is on the target list" and is considered to be a "very dangerous operative."

"He is essentially al Qaeda's intelligence and internal security chief," the US intelligence official said. He "appears to have replaced" Mohammad Khalil Hasan al Hakaymah, who is better known as Abu Jihad al Masri, the former al Qaeda intelligence chief who was killed in a US drone strike in 2008.

Read more: Al Qaeda intelligence chief reported killed in drone strike - The Long War Journal

 

[Marwat Khan Lodhi]

Why they are considered illegal when they are done with pakistan's permission.