US Drone strikes in Pakistan are illegal under international law.

[A.M.]

Who exactly issued this statement? The heading seems a little sensationalized.

If true, it is in direct conflict with what COAS told US counterparts just a week ago. The government just needs to shut the hell up. Honestly.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Suspected US drone strikes kill at least 13 in Pakistan, Afghanistan

Published December 07, 2014

At least two suspected U.S. drone strikes on both sides of the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan have killed at least 13 alleged Pakistani Taliban fighters, according to local officials.

On Saturday afternoon, one strike hit the Afghan village of Shiltan in Kunar province's Shigal District, killing a senior commander of the insurgent group and also wounding a fighter, provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Habib Sayedkhili said. Sayedkhili said there were no civilian casualties from the strike.

There was no confirmation from NATO forces about the strike, nor was there immediate comment from the Taliban. The Taliban had no immediate comment about the strike. On Saturday, officials said two other suspected U.S. drone strikes killed four alleged Taliban fighters in Laghman province.

In a separate attack, a Taliban insurgent threw a grenade into a wedding party Saturday night in Balkh province, killing four people and wounding 13, police spokesman Shirjan Duran said. The motive for the attack wasn't immediately clear.

Early Sunday, two missiles fired from a drone hit a compound in the village of Khara Tanga in the Datta Khel area, two Pakistani intelligence officials told the Associated Press. The strike also wounded two militants, they said.

The officials said Pakistani Taliban linked to commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur used the compound, but it wasn't immediately known whether Bahadur was there at the time of the strike.

"There is (suspicion) that an important commander was within the compound when missiles struck but this is yet to be verified," one of the intelligence officials said.

Both the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to journalists.

North Waziristan is home to both local and Al Qaeda-linked militants. Pakistani army is presently carrying out operations in both part of Waziristan.

On Saturday, Pakistani soldiers killed top Al Qaeda operative Adnan Shukrijumah who was indicted in the U.S. for his alleged involvement in a plot to bomb New York's subway system. A military official said that Shukrijumah had escaped the military operation in North Waziristan and was hiding in South Waziristan, where he was killed along with two other suspected militants.

Taliban fighters, Al Qaeda militants and other insurgents frequently cross the border to launch attacks on local troops and NATO forces. Insurgent attacks are on the rise across Afghanistan as NATO forces plan to wind down their combat mission in the country at the end of this month.

Washington long has used drone strikes to kill militants in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan and U.S. officials rarely comment on the covert drone program run by the CIA. U.S. drone strikes are widely unpopular in Pakistan over civilian casualties and concerns about the country's national sovereignty being violated.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Suspected US drone strikes kill at least 13 in Pakistan, Afghanistan | Fox News

Al Qaeda commander reported killed in drone strike in Pakistan
By BILL ROGGIO, December 8, 2014

A senior al Qaeda commander is reported to have been killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan's tribal areas yesterday. If his death is confirmed, it would mean that two al Qaeda leaders have been killed by US and Pakistani forces over the weekend.

The CIA-operated, remotely piloted Predators or Reapers fired a pair of missiles at a compound in the village of Khar Tangi in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan during the early morning of Dec. 7, killing upwards of six jihadists, according to reports from Pakistan. Several fighters from the Hafiz Gul Bahadar Group, a Taliban faction that is supported by the Pakistani state, are said to be among those killed.

There is some confusion over the identity of the al Qaeda leader who is reported to have been killed. Both Reuters and Dawn identified him as Omar Farooq ("alias Omar Ustad and Ustad Farooq," according to Dawn), who is described as al Qaeda's spokesman and emir for Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Express Tribune also named the slain al Qaeda leader as Omar Farooq, but described him as al Qaeda's "coordinator for the Arab region and Pakistan." The name of al Qaeda's spokesman for Pakistan is Ustad Ahmad Farooq, rather than Omar Farooq. [See LWJ reports, Al Qaeda eulogizes senior commander killed in recent drone strike and Al Qaeda weighs in on the Malala shooting.]

US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal said they are aware of reports of the death of a senior al Qaeda leader in Sunday's drone strike, but would not comment on the identity of who was targeted. One intelligence official noted that Omar Farooq is a common nom de guerre for Pakistani jihadists.

Al Qaeda and its official branch in the region, al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), have not released an official statement confirming or denying the death of a senior leader, nor are al Qaeda-linked jihadists discussing reports of the death on social media sites.

If Farooq's death is confirmed, he would be the second al Qaeda leader killed in Waziristan last weekend. On Dec. 6, the Pakistani military claimed it killed Adnan Shukrijumah, al Qaeda's operations chief for North America, in a raid in Spin Warzak, South Waziristan.

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/12/al_qaeda_commander_r_2.php#ixzz3LKU8rHPk

 

[TruthSeeker]

US drones strike in jihadist stronghold in North Waziristan
By BILL ROGGIO, December 20, 2014

The US launched a drone strike in the jihadist haven of Datta Khel in Pakistan's tribal agency of North Waziristan earlier today. The Pakistani military claimed it "cleared" Datta Khel in September as part of Operation Zarb-e-Azb, which was launched in mid-June this year.

The CIA-operated, remotely piloted Predators or Reapers fired a pair of missiles at a compound in the village of Mada Khel in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan during the early morning, killing six jihadists, The News reported. A "high value target," who has not been named, is said to have been among those killed, Dawn noted.

Pakistani and regional jihadist groups, including al Qaeda and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, have not released a statement or commented on the strike.

The Datta Khel area in North Waziristan, where today's drone strike took place, is a nexus of Taliban, Haqqani Network, and al Qaeda activity. Hafiz Gul Bahadar, the top Taliban commander for North Waziristan, administers the area, but the Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, and other jihadist groups also operate there. Some of al Qaeda's top leaders have been killed in drone strikes in Datta Khel, including Mustafa Abu Yazid, Abdullah Said al Libi, and Zuhaib al Zahibi. [See LWJ report, 'Foreign militants' reported killed in latest US drone strike in Pakistan, for more details on Datta Khel and senior al Qaeda leaders killed there.]

Pakistan claimed Datta Khel was "cleared"

The Pakistani military, which launched Operation Zarb-e-Azb on June 15 against the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, claimed a few months ago that it had "cleared" Datta Khel.

On Sept. 3, the Inter-Service Public Relations, the public affairs branch of the Pakistani military, issued a press release announcing that "security forces have cleared major towns of Miranshah, Mir Ali, Datta Khel, Boya and Degan, which were considered strong holds of terrorists."

Yet two and a half months later, on Nov. 16, Pakistani strike aircraft launched "precise aerial strikes" in which "27 Terrorists including some of their important commanders and foreigners were killed in Datta Khel, North Wazirsstan [sic] Agency today." The airstrikes indicate that the Pakistani military is not on the ground in Datta Khel, and is forced to rely on aircraft to conduct offensive operations.

The US has launched seven drone strikes against jihadist targets in Datta Khel since Sept. 3, when the Pakistani military claimed it cleared the area. According to data compiled by The Long War Journal, 40 jihadists, including al Qaeda and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan fighters and commanders, are reported to have been killed in the drone strikes.

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/12/us_drones_strike_in_7.php#ixzz3MUrd5Vup

 

[C130]

I wonder the odds of you are innocent Pakistani getting killed in a drone strike. I would think it would like winning a millionare dollar lottery or being struck by lightning.

who knows how many lives have been saved by droning these militants and there commanders.

shame we don't got a drone that can stay in the air for weeks.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I wonder the odds of you are innocent Pakistani getting killed in a drone strike.

The key word in your post is "innocent". If a terrorist commander has his wife serving his fellow combatants a meal in his home when a drone missile strikes and kills them all, was she "innocent"? I don't think so. Realistically very few "innocents" have been killed in the past several years as mission parameters are set to bend over backwards to avoid collateral killing of uninvolved people. And, secondly, the targeted people purposefully kill innocents in every operation they mount. They have no moral standing to complain, nor does "Pakistan".

 

[C130]

The key word in your post is "innocent". If a terrorist commander has his wife serving his fellow combatants a meal in his home when a drone missile strikes and kills them all, was she "innocent"? I don't think so. Realistically very few "innocents" have been killed in the past several years as mission parameters are set to bend over backwards to avoid collateral killing of uninvolved people. And, secondly, the targeted people purposefully kill innocents in every operation they mount. They have no moral standing to complain, nor does "Pakistan".

I see, but it must be done.

 

[TruthSeeker]

US targets emir of Punjabi Taliban in pair of drone strikes in North Waziristan
By BILL ROGGIO, December 26, 2014

Asmatullah Muawiya (center), from a March 2013 video. Osama bin Laden is to Muawiya's left, and Rasheed Ghazi, the slain leader of the Lal Masjid, is to his right. Image from the SITE Intelligence Group.

The US targeted a dual-hatted Pakistani Taliban leader and al Qaeda commander in one of two drone strikes that took place today in Pakistan's jihadist haven of North Waziristan.

The CIA-operated, remotely piloted Predators or Reapers launched two airstrikes in the Shawal area of North Waziristan, killing nine people, including four "foreigners," a term used to describe members of al Qaeda or other foreign jihadist groups, The New York Times reported. The Shawal Valley is a known haven for a host of jihadist groups, including al Qaeda and a multitude of Pakistani Taliban groups.

The first strike targeted a vehicle as it traveled in the Shawal area, killing four "Uzbeks," a Pakistani security official told the Times. The Uzbeks are likely members of the al Qaeda and the Taliban-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

The second strike targeted "a compound in Kund Sar in the Shawal Valley," where Asmatullah Muawiya was sheltering, the Times reported. Five people were killed in the attack, but it is unclear if Muawiya was among them.

Muawiya is the emir of the Movement of the Taliban in Punjab, which is more commonly called the Punjabi Taliban. He is also known to be the commander of what Osama bin Laden described as one of several al Qaeda military "companies." [See LWJ report, Bin Laden docs hint at large al Qaeda presence in Pakistan].

Muawiya broke with the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan in the summer of 2013 when he decided to halt attacks against the Pakistani government and focus his group's efforts in Afghanistan. The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan claimed to have expelled Muawiya, but the Punjabi Taliban commander denied that he was subservient to the group to begin with. [SeeThreat Matrix report, Did the TTP 'expel' Asmatullah Muawiya?]

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/12/us_targets_emir_of_p.php#ixzz3N2fT7G6w

 

[TruthSeeker]

US drones hit 'good Taliban' commander's compound in North Waziristan

By BILL ROGGIO, January 4, 2015

The US launched the first drone strike in Pakistan this year in an attack targeting fighters loyal to a Taliban commander who is favored by Pakistan's government as well as its military and intelligence establishment.

The CIA-operated, remotely piloted Predators or Reapers launched an airstrike on a compound in the village of Wacha Basti in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan earlier today, Dawn reported. Eight people, including an unidentified "high-value target," are reported to have been killed in the strike.

The compound that was hit belongs "to an Uzbek commander of the Taliban's Hafiz Gul Bahadar Group," Dawn noted. Hafiz Gul Bahadar is the top Taliban commander for North Waziristan, and administers the jihadist haven of Datta Khel.

Some Pakistani news outlets are claiming that "outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Commander Hafiz Gul Bahadar" is among those killed. His death has not been confirmed. The reports are questionable as Bahadar is neither "outlawed" nor a leader in the TTP, or Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. Bahadar, while allied with the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, operates independently of the group's leadership.

In fact, the Hafiz Gul Bahadar Group and other jihadist factions such as the Haqqani Network are considered by the Pakistani establishment to be "good" Taliban, as these groups do not advocate attacking the Pakistani state, even while sheltering and supporting jihadist groups that wage war on the government. The so-called good Taliban also support and wage jihad in Afghanistan and India. [See Threat Matrix reports, Pakistan condemns drone strike that targeted 'good Taliban,' and Good Taliban are not our problem, adviser to Pakistan's prime minister says.]

The Datta Khel area in North Waziristan, where today's drone strike took place, is a nexus of Taliban, Haqqani Network, and al Qaeda activity. In addition to the Hafiz Gul Bahadar Group, the Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and other jihadist groups also operate there. Some of al Qaeda's top leaders have been killed in drone strikes in Datta Khel, including Mustafa Abu Yazid, the group's former general manager; Abdullah Said al Libi, the emir of the Lashkar-al-Zil; and Zuhaib al Zahibi, a top Lashkar-al-Zil general. [See LWJ report, 'Foreign militants' reported killed in latest US drone strike in Pakistan, for more details on Datta Khel and senior al Qaeda leaders killed there.]

The Pakistani military claimed in early September 2014 that it has "cleared" Datta Khel of jihadist groups during Operation Zarb-e-Azb, which began on June 15, 2014. But the operation targeted only the so-called "bad" Taliban, such as the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. The Haqqani Network and the Hafiz Gul Bahadar Group were not targeted in the operation, despite Pakistani military claims to the contrary.

US has now launched eight drone strikes in Datta Khel since the Pakistani military claim, indicating that the area remains a jihadist haven. [See LWJ report, US drones strike in jihadist stronghold in North Waziristan.]

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/01/us_drones_hit_good_t.php#ixzz3OTb6CsCL

 

[RabzonKhan]

Nine suspected militants killed in drone strike near Pak-Afghan border - World - DAWN.COM

Zahir Shah Sherazi
Feb 11 2015

PESHAWAR: At least nine suspected militants were killed and scores of others injured Wednesday in a drone strike in the Nazyan area of Afghanistan's Nangarhar province.

Official sources told Dawn that the drone fired two missiles on a compound in the Nazyan area of Nangarhar near the Pak-Afghan border, leaving nine suspected militants dead and several others injured.

According to security officials, militants based in the Nazyan district had planned the devastating attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, which left over 150 people dead, including more than 130 schoolchildren.

Strikes against militants have increased on both sides of the border since the attack.
Pakistani security forces have also been carrying out ground offensives in Khyber Agency, particularly the Tirah Valley of Bara which borders Nazyan.

Drone attacks are widely unpopular across Pakistan and according to survey conducted in June last year, 66 per cent of the country's citizens oppose the strikes.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Senior TTP commander killed in US drone strike
ByTahir Khan
Published: March 19, 2015

ISLAMABAD: Outlawed militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed on Thursday, that the group’s senior commander, Khawrey Mehsud, was killed in a US drone strike.

“Commander Khawrey died near the Pak-Afghan border on March 18,” TTP spokesperson Muhammad Khorasani said.

Two other TTP men were killed in the strike on the Afghan side of the border, opposite to Pakistan’s Shabak area in Kurram Agency.

The TTP commander belonged to Sararogha area of South Waziristan and was a member of the militant group since he was a child.

Khawrey Mehsud was among the few senior commanders who had been close to TTP founder Baitullah Mehsud. Baitullah was also killed in an US drone attack in 2009, two years after he formed the TTP. Khawrey once also served Hakimullah Mehsud’s personal guard.

Khawrey was deeply involved in efforts to resolve internal rifts among the Mehsud factions.
Taliban sources say nearly 200 Taliban have been killed in internal clashes since last year. The Mehsud Taliban had split into two factions over serious differences, one group later parted ways with the TTP.
The TTP spokesperson said Commander Khawrey had also fought in Afghanistan’s Paktika, Kunar and Khost. He was also part of the TTP war in Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Darra Adam Khel, Orakzai, Kurram and Waziristan, Khorasani added.

 

[C130]

when has international law ever stopped us

 

[TruthSeeker]

when has international law ever stopped us

International law has no reality for the USA in that the enforcement of UN Security Council decisions, and most other International Law tribunals, depends, almost exclusively, on the USA to lead any enforcement actions.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Drones killed 67 Pakistani civilians in five years: report

Pakistan Today
March 10, 2015 BY STAFF REPORT

The Pakistani government has claimed that more than 2,000 suspected terrorists have been killed in 317 drone strikes in the past five years while only 67 innocent civilians have died in these attacks.

Surprisingly the official data also claims that no innocent civilian was struck by drone strikes since January 2012 while more than three hundred terrorists were targeted in the strikes.

The official data negates the claims by local political and religious parties that US drone strikes in Pakistan have mostly killed innocent civilians, including women and children.

The Ministry of Defence furnished a written reply in the Senate on Monday detailing the number of US drone strikes in the past five years.

According to the official data, this year has witnessed the lowest number of drone strikes which are 14 as compared to 2010 when the US hit Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) 115 times through drone attacks.

However, Pakistani government and political parties across the board have termed these strikes counter-productive and have repeatedly called for stopping the strikes.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his visit to the US last week also called upon President Barack Obama to end these strikes but the US has reportedly made no commitment to end the unmanned drone operation.

Defense analyst and author Zahid Hussain believes that the number of drone strikes in Pakistan may reduce, but it is highly unlikely that the US would consider putting an end to the drone program.

A UN expert investigating drone strikes said earlier this month that the Pakistani government told him that at least 400 civilians have been killed by the attacks in the country since they started in 2004.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, based in London, has estimated that at least 300 civilians have been killed by drones in Pakistan since 2008. The Washington-based New America Foundation put the figure at 185 civilians. These estimates are often compiled based on media reports about the attacks.

Amnesty International recently released a report on drone strikes in Pakistan, accusing the US of indulging in war crimes by targeting innocent civilians through armed drones.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Pakistan Officials: US Drone Strike Kills 5 Militants

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — May 16, 2015, 3:48 PM ET
By ISHTIAQ MAHSUD Associated Press

Pakistani intelligence officials say missiles fired from a U.S. drone struck a compound in the North Waziristan tribal region near the Afghan border, killing five militants.

The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters, said three of the militants killed Saturday were Uzbeks and the other two were Pakistanis. They say the compound had been used by the Pakistani Taliban.

U.S. drone strikes have killed several leading militants in rugged areas of Pakistan over the years, but are deeply unpopular in Pakistan because they have also killed civilians.

Pakistan has been waging a military offensive in North Waziristan for nearly a year, trying to drive out Taliban and other militants who have long enjoyed safe haven in the lawless region.

 

[Yeti]

So is having militant camps in your backyard yet what do Pak care about international law?