US Drone strikes in Pakistan are illegal under international law.

[TruthSeeker]

The Year of the Drone

An Analysis of U.S. Drone Strikes in Pakistan, 2004-2010

Our study shows that the 114 reported drone strikes in northwest Pakistan, including 18 in 2010, from 2004 to the present have killed approximately between 834 and 1,216 individuals, of whom around 549 to 849 were described as militants in reliable press accounts, about two-thirds of the total on average. Thus, the true civilian fatality rate since 2004 according to our analysis is approximately 32 percent.***

The research on these pages, which we have created in a good faith effort to be as transparent as possible with our sources and analysis and will be updated regularly, draws only on accounts from reliable media organizations with deep reporting capabilities in Pakistan, including the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal, accounts by major news services and networks—the Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, CNN, and the BBC—and reports in the leading English-language newspapers in Pakistan—the Daily Times, Dawn, and the News—as well as those from Geo TV, the largest independent Pakistani television network.

We have also constructed a map, based on the same reliable press accounts and publicly available maps, of the estimated location of each drone strike. Click each pin in the online version to see the details of a reported strike; the red border represents the extent of Pakistan's tribal regions in the northwest of the country. And while we are not professional cartographers, and Google Maps is at times incomplete or imperfect, this map gives our best approximations of the locations and details of each reported drone strike since 2004.

Full report @: The Year of the Drone | NewAmerica.net

Good data source for drone strikes. *** If you read the details it appears that "foreigners" are included in the "civilian" or "others killed" category. There is no definition of a civilian given. They are merely taking, at face value, what has been reported by the journalistic sources they note. Of course this is also true of the category "militant", i.e. not definition given, accepting the journalistic designations. So this doesn't really shed any real light on the civilian militant ration of drone strike victims. It merely summarizes all available news report information.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Drone missiles kill suspected militants

Published: March. 9, 2010 at 2:01 AM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 9 (UPI) -- Missiles fired from a suspected U.S. drone killed several militants in Miramshah in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region, authorities said.

Dawn newspaper, quoting official sources, reported five suspected militants died in the strikes Monday. Another newspaper put the death toll at six.

Geo News put the death toll at five killed in three missile attacks targeting a militants' compound. The report said three others were

Drone missiles kill suspected militants - UPI.com


Pakistan drone raid 'kills three militants'

Tuesday, 9 March 2010

Missiles fired by a US drone aircraft have killed at least three suspected militants in north-west Pakistan, security officials say.

The attack targeted a residential building inside the compound of a veterinary hospital in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan.

The identities of those killed in the attack are not yet known.

Security officials told the BBC Urdu Service that three missiles were fired at the building on Sunday.

The dead and six others who were injured in the attack were local militants affiliated to a group led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, officials said.

The compound of the hospital includes several residential houses for employees, but most of them had left after the area was taken over by the Taliban.

The buildings are now being used by the Taliban, residents say.

BBC News - Pakistan drone raid 'kills three militants'

 

[TruthSeeker]

Drone attacks kill 14 in North Waziristan

By Pazir Gul, Thursday, 11 Mar, 2010

MIRAMSHAH: At least 14 people were killed and three others injured in two attacks by US drones in Maizer Madakhel area of Datakhel tehsil in North Waziristan on Wednesday.

In the first attack, a pilotless plane fired three missiles into a residential compound, killing seven suspected militants. After some time when a group of men believed to be insurgents were pulling out bodies from the rubble, a done fired four more missiles and killed another seven militants.

Sources said that the residential compound belonged to Hafiz Gul Bahadur who is closely linked with the Haqqani network.

They also said that one of the missiles had hit a vehicle the militants were using.

Local people said that the unmanned planes were hovering over the area till late in the night.

DAWN.COM | Provinces | Drone attacks kill 14 in North Waziristan

Death toll in US missile strikes in Pakistan rises to 15

ISLAMABAD, March 10 (Saba) -- The death toll in US missile strikes increased to 15 as unmanned aircraft fired four more missiles, while a large number of people had gathered to rescue the victims, said officials, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

A total of seven missiles were fired at a suspected militant compound, a vehicle and a gathering of tribal people in Dattakhel district of North Waziristan tribal agency.

Security officials told KUNA that predator drones fired four more missiles when a large number of people had gathered to rescue the victims. They said the death toll has increased to 15 while a large number of people were wounded.

However, tribal sources claimed the death toll to be more than 15 and said that a dozen others were critically wounded. Security officials said that in the first series of aerial strikes, at least three foreigners of Arab origin were among the killed and wounded.

Saba Net - Yemen news agency

 

[TruthSeeker]

Drone Strikes Kill 21 in Pakistan

By THE NEW YORK TIMES, March 10, 2010

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Two drone strikes since Monday in North Waziristan have killed at least 21 people, possibly including a top local commander, said a Pakistan security official and residents of the area, a stronghold of Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
At War

The latest strike, on Wednesday, killed 12 people in Madakhel, when seven missiles hit a compound and two vehicles, residents said.

The dead may include Hafiz Gul Bahadar, a Waziri commander, they said, though the claim could not be confirmed.

Drone Strikes Kill 21 in Pakistan - NYTimes.com

 

[TruthSeeker]

CIA drone attacks produce America's own unlawful combatants

By Gary Solis, Friday, March 12, 2010

In our current armed conflicts, there are two U.S. drone offensives. One is conducted by our armed forces, the other by the CIA. Every day, CIA agents and CIA contractors arm and pilot armed unmanned drones over combat zones in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including Pakistani tribal areas, to search out and kill Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters. In terms of international armed conflict, those CIA agents are, unlike their military counterparts but like the fighters they target, unlawful combatants. No less than their insurgent targets, they are fighters without uniforms or insignia, directly participating in hostilities, employing armed force contrary to the laws and customs of war. Even if they are sitting in Langley, the CIA pilots are civilians violating the requirement of distinction, a core concept of armed conflict, as they directly participate in hostilities.

Before the 1863 Lieber Code condemned civilian participation in combat, it was contrary to customary law. Today, civilian participation in combat is still prohibited by two 1977 protocols to the 1949 Geneva Conventions. Although the United States has not ratified the protocols, we consider the prohibition to be customary law, binding on all nations. Whether in international or non-international armed conflict, we kill terrorists who take a direct part in hostilities because their doing so negates their protection as civilians and renders them lawful targets. If captured, the unlawful acts committed during their direct participation makes them subject to prosecution in civilian courts or military tribunals. They are not entitled to prisoner-of-war status.

If the CIA civilian personnel recently killed by a suicide bomber in Khost, Afghanistan, were directly involved in supplying targeting data, arming or flying drones in the combat zone, they were lawful targets of the enemy, although the enemy himself was not a lawful combatant. It makes no difference that CIA civilians are employed by, or in the service of, the U.S. government or its armed forces. They are civilians; they wear no distinguishing uniform or sign, and if they input target data or pilot armed drones in the combat zone, they directly participate in hostilities -- which means they may be lawfully targeted.

Moreover, CIA civilian personnel who repeatedly and directly participate in hostilities may have what recent guidance from the International Committee of the Red Cross terms "a continuous combat function." That status, the ICRC guidance says, makes them legitimate targets whenever and wherever they may be found, including Langley. While the guidance speaks in terms of non-state actors, there is no reason why the same is not true of civilian agents of state actors such as the United States.

It is, of course, hardly likely that a Taliban or al-Qaeda bomber or sniper could operate in Northern Virginia. (In 1993, a Pakistani citizen illegally in the United States shot and killed two CIA employees en route to the agency's headquarters. He was not, however, affiliated with any political or religious group.)

And while the prosecution of CIA personnel is certainly not suggested, one wonders whether CIA civilians who are associated with armed drones appreciate their position in the law of armed conflict. Their superiors surely do.

Gary Solis, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, is the author of "The Law of Armed Conflict."

washingtonpost.com

 

[jha]

US drone strike in North Waziristan, 11 terrorists killed - Pakistan - World - The Times of India


PESHAWAR: US unmanned drones fired missiles into the hideouts of pro-Taliban and al-Qaida linked militants in the troubled North Waziristan tribal region on Tuesday, killing at least 11 suspected militants and injuring three others, official sources said.

The missiles hit a militant compound in the rugged mountains of Datta Khel area near Miramshah headquarter of North Waziristan. Sources revealed that two militant hideouts were destroyed in the attack.

"US drones fired four missiles on a militant compound. At least 11 militants, mostly foreigners, were killed," said a Pakistani intelligence official, based in North Waziristan, adding that the toll is likely to rise.

North Waziristan is the home of pro-Pakistan Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a powerful militant commander who is fighting against US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Sources said that Arab militants were guarding the compound which was a no-go area for the locals. “They barred all access within three kilometers of the facility”, sources confided.

However, security officials did not confirm the identity of the suspected militants. “The identity of the militants was unclear and it was not immediately known whether there were any high-value targets”, security official said.

Since a suicide attack killed seven CIA employees in Afghanistan in December, covert US drone attacks have tremendously increased in the volatile Waziristan tribal region. The drone attacks routinely target Taliban and al-Qaida commanders in Pakistan's tribal belt bordering Afghanistan. Washington calls Waziristan the global headquarters of al-Qaida.

A number of high-profile militant leaders, including Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud and his successor Hakimullah Mehsud were killed in the drone attacks. A suspected US drone strike in Miranshah in February killed Mohammed Haqqani, a brother of al-Qaida-linked Sirajuddin Haqqani, whose network is fighting against US and local forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.

According to US officials the drone strikes are a vital weapon in the war to defeat al-Qaida and reverse the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

More than 700 people have been killed in the nearly 100 drone strikes in Pakistan since August 2008, with a surge in the past year as President Barack Obama puts Pakistan at the heart of his fight against al-Qaida.

Taliban and al-Qaida-linked groups are blamed for a wave of suicide and bomb attacks that have killed more than 3,000 people across Pakistan since 2007.

Pakistan's military launched an offensive against Taliban in South Waziristan last October and claims to have made big gains against Taliban and al-Qaida strongholds.

Pakistan publicly criticizes drone attacks, saying they violate its sovereignty and fuel more anti-Americanism among the people, but observers widely believe that Pakistan shares intelligence with the US on drone strikes.

 

[HAWK73]

Its good to know that at least dear Indian friends benign to realize that these attacks killing Innocent human too as well.

 

[KeenGuy]

We need U.S. help I'm not against these strikes. Collateral damage is unavoidable in these situations.

 

[fawwaxs]

MIRANSHAH: Two missile strikes by pilotless US drone aircraft killed at least six militants in North Waziristan, a major Al Qaeda and Taliban sanctuary, intelligence officials and residents said.

The first strike, made up of five missiles, targeted a militant compound and a vehicle in Mazoni village, about 10 km (6 miles) west of North Waziristan's main town of Miranshah.

Two missiles were fired into Datta Kheil area, 40 km (25 miles) west of Miranshah.

“The death toll may rise, but so far we have information that six militants are killed in both incidents,” an intelligence official in Miranshah said. – Reuters

 

[Ahmad]

It is very good to see these killers being killed. Although these drones kill the innocent people as well, but they are necessary to finish off the TTP. Otherwise their prolonged existence will only prolong the misary of Paksianis and people of Afghansitan.,

 

[TruthSeeker]

US drone strike in North Waziristan, 11 terrorists killed

Omer Farooq Khan, TNN, Mar 16, 2010, 06.45pm IST

PESHAWAR: US unmanned drones fired missiles into the hideouts of pro-Taliban and al-Qaida linked militants in the troubled North Waziristan tribal region on Tuesday, killing at least 11 suspected militants and injuring three others, official sources said.

The missiles hit a militant compound in the rugged mountains of Datta Khel area near Miramshah headquarter of North Waziristan. Sources revealed that two militant hideouts were destroyed in the attack.

"US drones fired four missiles on a militant compound. At least 11 militants, mostly foreigners, were killed," said a Pakistani intelligence official, based in North Waziristan, adding that the toll is likely to rise.

North Waziristan is the home of pro-Pakistan Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a powerful militant commander who is fighting against US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Sources said that Arab militants were guarding the compound which was a no-go area for the locals. “They barred all access within three kilometers of the facility”, sources confided.

However, security officials did not confirm the identity of the suspected militants. “The identity of the militants was unclear and it was not immediately known whether there were any high-value targets”, security official said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-11-terrorists-killed/articleshow/5690853.cms



11 killed in N Waziristan drone attack
Updated at: 1341 PST, Tuesday, March 16, 2010
11 killed in N Waziristan drone attack MIRANSHAH: Eleven persons have been killed in US missile strike in North Waziristan on Tuesday.

According to sources, US drone fired four missiles at militants hideout in Dattkhel area killing 11 persons and wounded two others.Two dens of militants were also destroyed during the attack, they added.

11 killed in N Waziristan drone attack - GEO.tv

 

[TruthSeeker]

US strikes kill 8 in NWA

0910 PST, Wednesday, March 17, 2010

US strikes kill 8 in NWA MIRANSHAH: A US missile strike Wednesday killed at least eight people in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) areas near Miranshah, Geo News reported.

According to sources, the first strike took place in Hamzoni village of Dattakhel near Miranshah.

"US drones fired five missiles on two suspected militant vehicles around 7:15 am," a senior security official said while taking to a French news agency.

"Five militants were killed in the missile strike," the official said.

An eyewitness said at least four people were injured in the attack. The injured have been shifted to Miranshah Hospital.

The news agency quoted the security officials say that a second US missile strike took place in the region 50 kilometer from Miranshah near Afghan border. At least two missiles were fired at a house, where three people were killed.

According to local sources, at least five US surveillance plane hovered over the area in the run up to the attack.

This is the third large US attack in two days in Pakistani territory.

‘The death toll may rise, but so far we have information that eight militants are killed in both incidents,’ an intelligence official in Miranshah said.

US strikes kill 8 in NWA - GEO.tv

 

[HAWK73]

Well, , , , , ,

9/11 happened in US.
But its Pakistan who paying for it.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Well, , , , , ,

9/11 happened in US.
But its Pakistan who paying for it.

Not just Pakistan. Many nations have had their soldiers and civilians killed in the aftermath as well. Afghanistan has lost thousands of lives as has the USA.

 

[sergente rehan]

It's a good news when these terrorists are killed but when they claimed the word "suspect terrorist" i'm not sure that if he was a terrorist or a simple innocent civilian. Anyway i'll always condemn these drones attacks as they kills many innocnet civilians. No matter what ever U.S. claims a Pakistani civilian life is almost very important as compaired to an american civilian life. Just immagine if there were undertaken these types of attacks in any western country, for sure it wasn't the same situation for the americans like it is now.
I think U.S. will never be able to do anything like this in Europe.