US Drone strikes in Pakistan are illegal under international law.
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there isn't anything difficult about drone strikes. they are extrajudicial murders, nothing less.
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US Predator strike kills 15 'militants' in South and North Waziristan
By Bill Roggio, June 15, 2011
US Predators struck again in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agencies of South and North Waziristan today, killing 15 "militants," according to reports from the region.
The first strike took place near Wana, the main town in South Waziristan. The unmanned Predators or Reapers fired missiles at a compound and a vehicle in the area. Seven Taliban fighters loyal to Mullah Nazir were reported killed at the compound, and three more were killed in the vehicle.
In the second strike, Predators fired four missiles at a vehicle in the Miranshah area of North Waziristan, an area under the control of the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network. Five more "militants" were killed in the attack.
The exact targets of the strikes are unclear; Nazir and the Haqqanis are known to shelter senior and mid-level Taliban leaders in their tribal areas. No senior Taliban or al Qaeda leaders have been reported killed in the strike.
The US has shifted its focus from the Taliban-held and al Qaeda-infested tribal agency of North Waziristan to South Waziristan over the past month. Six of the eight strikes since June 1 have taken place in South Waziristan.
Nazir's followers have threatened to step up attacks against US and NATO forces in Afghanistan to retaliate for the increase in Predator strikes. On June 8, two of Nazir's top commanders vowed to take such action.
"Because the United States is launching these strikes we will send more fighters to Afghanistan and step up our operations against US forces," Maulvi Younus, a senior Taliban commander and spokesman for Mullah Nazir, told Reuters. "We have no other option. We have no weapons which shoot them (drone aircraft) down so we will fight the United States in Afghanistan."
Read more: US Predator strike kills 15 'militants' in South and North Waziristan - The Long War Journal
By Bill Roggio, June 15, 2011
US Predators struck again in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agencies of South and North Waziristan today, killing 15 "militants," according to reports from the region.
The first strike took place near Wana, the main town in South Waziristan. The unmanned Predators or Reapers fired missiles at a compound and a vehicle in the area. Seven Taliban fighters loyal to Mullah Nazir were reported killed at the compound, and three more were killed in the vehicle.
In the second strike, Predators fired four missiles at a vehicle in the Miranshah area of North Waziristan, an area under the control of the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network. Five more "militants" were killed in the attack.
The exact targets of the strikes are unclear; Nazir and the Haqqanis are known to shelter senior and mid-level Taliban leaders in their tribal areas. No senior Taliban or al Qaeda leaders have been reported killed in the strike.
The US has shifted its focus from the Taliban-held and al Qaeda-infested tribal agency of North Waziristan to South Waziristan over the past month. Six of the eight strikes since June 1 have taken place in South Waziristan.
Nazir's followers have threatened to step up attacks against US and NATO forces in Afghanistan to retaliate for the increase in Predator strikes. On June 8, two of Nazir's top commanders vowed to take such action.
"Because the United States is launching these strikes we will send more fighters to Afghanistan and step up our operations against US forces," Maulvi Younus, a senior Taliban commander and spokesman for Mullah Nazir, told Reuters. "We have no other option. We have no weapons which shoot them (drone aircraft) down so we will fight the United States in Afghanistan."
Read more: US Predator strike kills 15 'militants' in South and North Waziristan - The Long War Journal
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Drone Attack: Three US missile strikes kill 11 in Kurram Agency
Monday June 20, 2011 (1657 PST)
PARACHINAR: Three continuous US missile strikes destroyed a vehicle in tribal district of Lower Kurram Agency on Monday, killing at least eleven militants near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area, our sources reported.
According to sources, drone strikes targeted a vehicle travelling through the Kharh Dhand area of Kurram, which borders Afghanistan`s eastern province of Paktia. Local officials said it was the third US drone strike reported in Kurram.
"The American drone fired two missiles. Eleven militants were killed and the vehicle was completely destroyed," a security official said on condition of anonymity.
More casualties are feared in the attacks while the drones are still hovering over the area, sources added.
Pakistan News Service - PakTribune
Monday June 20, 2011 (1657 PST)
PARACHINAR: Three continuous US missile strikes destroyed a vehicle in tribal district of Lower Kurram Agency on Monday, killing at least eleven militants near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area, our sources reported.
According to sources, drone strikes targeted a vehicle travelling through the Kharh Dhand area of Kurram, which borders Afghanistan`s eastern province of Paktia. Local officials said it was the third US drone strike reported in Kurram.
"The American drone fired two missiles. Eleven militants were killed and the vehicle was completely destroyed," a security official said on condition of anonymity.
More casualties are feared in the attacks while the drones are still hovering over the area, sources added.
Pakistan News Service - PakTribune
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Suspected US Drone Strikes, Taliban Attack Kill 15 In Pakistan
6/20/2011 2:29 PM ET
(RTTNews) - At least 15 people have been killed Monday in multiple attacks by suspected US drones and a Taliban raid in Pakistan's restive northwest bordering Afghanistan, reports said.
An unnamed intelligence official told media that a total of six missiles fired from the drone struck a vehicle and a suspected militant compound in Kurram district, widely regarded as a stronghold of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or the Pakistan Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents.
Two people were killed in the first attack that targeted the vehicle which was completely destroyed. Even as locals converged at the scene of devastation to carryout rescue work two more missiles were fired from an overhead drone that claimed two lives. It was also revealed that the attack on a compound killed seven insurgents believed to be members of Haqqani militants (HQN) with links to Afghan Taliban.
by RTT Staff Writer
Suspected US Drone Strikes, Taliban Attack Kill 15 In Pakistan
6/20/2011 2:29 PM ET
(RTTNews) - At least 15 people have been killed Monday in multiple attacks by suspected US drones and a Taliban raid in Pakistan's restive northwest bordering Afghanistan, reports said.
An unnamed intelligence official told media that a total of six missiles fired from the drone struck a vehicle and a suspected militant compound in Kurram district, widely regarded as a stronghold of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or the Pakistan Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents.
Two people were killed in the first attack that targeted the vehicle which was completely destroyed. Even as locals converged at the scene of devastation to carryout rescue work two more missiles were fired from an overhead drone that claimed two lives. It was also revealed that the attack on a compound killed seven insurgents believed to be members of Haqqani militants (HQN) with links to Afghan Taliban.
by RTT Staff Writer
Suspected US Drone Strikes, Taliban Attack Kill 15 In Pakistan
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Drones kill 9 Haqqani men in Kurram attack
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
PARACHINAR: Suspected US drones fired missiles into Kurram Agency on Monday, killing at least 12 militants, nine of them from the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, local officials said.
Pakistani officials said it was only the fourth time that US drones had hit Kurram, where Haqqani loyalists are believed to have fled as US pressure mounts on Pakistan to launch an offensive on their headquarters in Waziristan. The first attack hit a vehicle, killing five people, said Noor Alam, a local government official. As tribesmen rushed to the scene, the vehicle was again struck, killing two more people, he said.
Minutes later, a suspected US drone attacked a nearby house, killing five people, Alam said. An intelligence official in Kurram said the four missiles fired by drones targeted two militant compounds and a vehicle in the Khardand area, a stronghold of Fazal Saeed, a local militant commander. Saeed is closely linked to the Haqqani network – one of the most feared Afghan groups fighting US forces across the border in Afghanistan, officials say.
“Twelve militants were killed. Nine of them were Afghans and believed to be linked to the Haqqani group,” a second intelligence official said. The remaining were said to be Pakistanis. Kurram is an unusual target and could mark a further expansion of the US campaign against militants holed up in North and South Waziristan.
North Waziristan is the major base for the Haqqani network and security officials say many of its fighters and their local allies are believed to have fled to Kurram. The militants cut a deal with Shia tribesmen last year in Kurram and neighbouring tribal regions amid speculation that Pakistan Army might launch an offensive in North Waziristan.
Hundreds of armed tribesmen on Monday gathered in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, to protest against the strikes, shouting “Death to America” and “Stop drone attacks”. “The drone attacks are targeting innocent people, innocent women and children,” local tribal elder Malik Shahzada told the gathering. “We will protest in Peshawar and will stage a sit-in in Islamabad if government did not take steps to stop it,” he added. agencies
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
PARACHINAR: Suspected US drones fired missiles into Kurram Agency on Monday, killing at least 12 militants, nine of them from the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, local officials said.
Pakistani officials said it was only the fourth time that US drones had hit Kurram, where Haqqani loyalists are believed to have fled as US pressure mounts on Pakistan to launch an offensive on their headquarters in Waziristan. The first attack hit a vehicle, killing five people, said Noor Alam, a local government official. As tribesmen rushed to the scene, the vehicle was again struck, killing two more people, he said.
Minutes later, a suspected US drone attacked a nearby house, killing five people, Alam said. An intelligence official in Kurram said the four missiles fired by drones targeted two militant compounds and a vehicle in the Khardand area, a stronghold of Fazal Saeed, a local militant commander. Saeed is closely linked to the Haqqani network – one of the most feared Afghan groups fighting US forces across the border in Afghanistan, officials say.
“Twelve militants were killed. Nine of them were Afghans and believed to be linked to the Haqqani group,” a second intelligence official said. The remaining were said to be Pakistanis. Kurram is an unusual target and could mark a further expansion of the US campaign against militants holed up in North and South Waziristan.
North Waziristan is the major base for the Haqqani network and security officials say many of its fighters and their local allies are believed to have fled to Kurram. The militants cut a deal with Shia tribesmen last year in Kurram and neighbouring tribal regions amid speculation that Pakistan Army might launch an offensive in North Waziristan.
Hundreds of armed tribesmen on Monday gathered in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, to protest against the strikes, shouting “Death to America” and “Stop drone attacks”. “The drone attacks are targeting innocent people, innocent women and children,” local tribal elder Malik Shahzada told the gathering. “We will protest in Peshawar and will stage a sit-in in Islamabad if government did not take steps to stop it,” he added. agencies
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
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What nonsense! Are those drones Pakistani? If no than how they are extrajudicial murder?
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Gunmen kill senior Pakistani Taliban commander
ISHTIAQ MAHSUD - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jun 27, 2011 9:17:12 EDT
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — Gunmen riding in a car with tinted windows near the Afghan border on Monday shot and killed a senior Pakistani Taliban commander who helped train and deploy the group's suicide bombers, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
Shakirullah Shakir was riding on a motorcycle near Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal area, when he was shot, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Shakir was a senior commander and spokesman for the Fidayeen-e-Islam wing of the Pakistani Taliban. He once claimed to a local newspaper that his group had trained more than 1,000 suicide bombers at camps in North Waziristan.
No group has claimed responsibility for his killing.
Missiles believed to have been fired by a U.S. drone hit a pickup truck in the Dra Nishter area of South Waziristan on Monday, killing eight suspected militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Dra Nishter is a Pakistani Taliban stronghold near the border with North Waziristan and has been hit twice before by suspected U.S. drones in recent months.
The U.S. refuses to publicly acknowledge the covert CIA drone program in Pakistan, but officials have said privately that the strikes have killed many Taliban and al-Qaida commanders.
Also Monday, a senior Pakistani Taliban commander said he is splitting from the group to protest attacks against civilians, a rare criticism of the militants by one of their own.
Fazal Saeed said he is forming his own militant group, Tehrik-e-Taliban Islami, and will focus on fighting NATO troops in Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, is mainly focused on battling the Pakistani government.
Saeed, leader of the Pakistani Taliban in the Kurram tribal area near the Afghan border, accused the group of targeting civilians in suicide attacks and bomb blasts in mosques.
"We have repeatedly protested over killing unarmed and innocent people in these attacks, but no heed was paid, so we are splitting from Tehrik-e-Taliban" Pakistan, Saeed told The Associated Press by phone from an undisclosed location.
Thousands of civilians have been killed in attacks in Pakistan. The Pakistani Taliban often deny responsibility for attacks that kill large numbers of civilians, but they are widely believed to carry them out.
It's unclear whether Saeed's decision to split from the group is related to plans by the Pakistani army to launch a military offensive soon in Kurram. The army has cut deals in the past to avoid targeting groups who fight in Afghanistan as long as they agree not to attack Pakistan.
Saeed is believed to be a close ally of the Haqqani network, which the U.S. military believes is the most dangerous militant group battling foreign forces in Afghanistan.
Local tribesmen said late last year that the Haqqani network cut a deal with Shiite Muslim militias in Kurram to allow the militants to cross through the area on their way to fighting in Afghanistan. The route would help them avoid deadly U.S. drone attacks that have rained down on North Waziristan, their main stronghold.
But the route is not entirely free of risk. Suspected U.S. drones launched rare missile attacks against a vehicle and a house earlier this month in an area of Kurram reportedly dominated by Saeed, killing 12 people, including at least seven suspected militants, Pakistani officials said.
Gunmen kill senior Pakistani Taliban commander - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times
ISHTIAQ MAHSUD - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jun 27, 2011 9:17:12 EDT
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — Gunmen riding in a car with tinted windows near the Afghan border on Monday shot and killed a senior Pakistani Taliban commander who helped train and deploy the group's suicide bombers, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
Shakirullah Shakir was riding on a motorcycle near Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal area, when he was shot, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Shakir was a senior commander and spokesman for the Fidayeen-e-Islam wing of the Pakistani Taliban. He once claimed to a local newspaper that his group had trained more than 1,000 suicide bombers at camps in North Waziristan.
No group has claimed responsibility for his killing.
Missiles believed to have been fired by a U.S. drone hit a pickup truck in the Dra Nishter area of South Waziristan on Monday, killing eight suspected militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Dra Nishter is a Pakistani Taliban stronghold near the border with North Waziristan and has been hit twice before by suspected U.S. drones in recent months.
The U.S. refuses to publicly acknowledge the covert CIA drone program in Pakistan, but officials have said privately that the strikes have killed many Taliban and al-Qaida commanders.
Also Monday, a senior Pakistani Taliban commander said he is splitting from the group to protest attacks against civilians, a rare criticism of the militants by one of their own.
Fazal Saeed said he is forming his own militant group, Tehrik-e-Taliban Islami, and will focus on fighting NATO troops in Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, is mainly focused on battling the Pakistani government.
Saeed, leader of the Pakistani Taliban in the Kurram tribal area near the Afghan border, accused the group of targeting civilians in suicide attacks and bomb blasts in mosques.
"We have repeatedly protested over killing unarmed and innocent people in these attacks, but no heed was paid, so we are splitting from Tehrik-e-Taliban" Pakistan, Saeed told The Associated Press by phone from an undisclosed location.
Thousands of civilians have been killed in attacks in Pakistan. The Pakistani Taliban often deny responsibility for attacks that kill large numbers of civilians, but they are widely believed to carry them out.
It's unclear whether Saeed's decision to split from the group is related to plans by the Pakistani army to launch a military offensive soon in Kurram. The army has cut deals in the past to avoid targeting groups who fight in Afghanistan as long as they agree not to attack Pakistan.
Saeed is believed to be a close ally of the Haqqani network, which the U.S. military believes is the most dangerous militant group battling foreign forces in Afghanistan.
Local tribesmen said late last year that the Haqqani network cut a deal with Shiite Muslim militias in Kurram to allow the militants to cross through the area on their way to fighting in Afghanistan. The route would help them avoid deadly U.S. drone attacks that have rained down on North Waziristan, their main stronghold.
But the route is not entirely free of risk. Suspected U.S. drones launched rare missile attacks against a vehicle and a house earlier this month in an area of Kurram reportedly dominated by Saeed, killing 12 people, including at least seven suspected militants, Pakistani officials said.
Gunmen kill senior Pakistani Taliban commander - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times
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U.S. drones kill 21 militants in NW Pakistan
WANA, Pakistan | Mon Jun 27, 2011 1:42pm EDT
(Reuters) - Missile strikes from two U.S. drones killed at least 21 suspected militants in Pakistan's South Waziristan on Monday, Pakistani officials said, part of an intensified U.S. assault in the tribal belt this month.
In the first strike, a missile hit a moving vehicle in Ghalmandi Panga village on the Afghan border, killing eight militants.
A few hours later, another drone fired three missiles into a militant training center in Mantoi town, about 30 km north of South Waziristan's main town of Wana.
"It was a big compound which was used as training center. Militants have cordoned off the area and bodies are being removed from the rubble," an intelligence official in the region, who declined to be identified, told Reuters. Thirteen militants were killed in the second strike.
Another official said militant casualties could rise.
There was no way to verify the deaths independently. Militants often dispute official casualty tolls.
U.S. drones kill 21 militants in NW Pakistan | Reuters
WANA, Pakistan | Mon Jun 27, 2011 1:42pm EDT
(Reuters) - Missile strikes from two U.S. drones killed at least 21 suspected militants in Pakistan's South Waziristan on Monday, Pakistani officials said, part of an intensified U.S. assault in the tribal belt this month.
In the first strike, a missile hit a moving vehicle in Ghalmandi Panga village on the Afghan border, killing eight militants.
A few hours later, another drone fired three missiles into a militant training center in Mantoi town, about 30 km north of South Waziristan's main town of Wana.
"It was a big compound which was used as training center. Militants have cordoned off the area and bodies are being removed from the rubble," an intelligence official in the region, who declined to be identified, told Reuters. Thirteen militants were killed in the second strike.
Another official said militant casualties could rise.
There was no way to verify the deaths independently. Militants often dispute official casualty tolls.
U.S. drones kill 21 militants in NW Pakistan | Reuters
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Drone strikes kill 26 in South Waziristan
our correspondent, Tuesday, June 28, 2011
WANA: Twenty-six persons suspected to be militants were killed in two US drone attacks in South Waziristan on Monday, tribal sources said. The sources said in the first strike, a drone hit a double cabin pickup truck in Sra Khawra area near the Shawal Valley, killing 12 people.
The sources said a group of people, believed to be militants, was on its way to the forest-covered mountainous Shawal valley when the drone started firing missiles on their vehicle. The sources said the victims included Afghan and Pakistani tribal militants.
There were reports that the militants were returning to their hideouts in Shawal Valley after attacking a military installation in Birmal area in Afghanistan’s Paktika province. The sources said the drone fired four missiles at the vehicle, killing all the 12 men on board.
Taliban sources confirmed the drone attack but did not provide further information about the death toll and identity of the victims. Another 14 suspected militants were killed and seven others sustained injuries in the second drone attack in Mantoi area of South Waziristan.
Tribal sources said the drone fired four missiles, pounding a house where a group of militants reportedly affiliated with the Hakimullah Mahsud-led TTP were residing. They said 14 militants died on the spot and seven others suffered injuries. There was no immediate information about the identity of the victims.
Drone strikes kill 26 in South Waziristan
our correspondent, Tuesday, June 28, 2011
WANA: Twenty-six persons suspected to be militants were killed in two US drone attacks in South Waziristan on Monday, tribal sources said. The sources said in the first strike, a drone hit a double cabin pickup truck in Sra Khawra area near the Shawal Valley, killing 12 people.
The sources said a group of people, believed to be militants, was on its way to the forest-covered mountainous Shawal valley when the drone started firing missiles on their vehicle. The sources said the victims included Afghan and Pakistani tribal militants.
There were reports that the militants were returning to their hideouts in Shawal Valley after attacking a military installation in Birmal area in Afghanistan’s Paktika province. The sources said the drone fired four missiles at the vehicle, killing all the 12 men on board.
Taliban sources confirmed the drone attack but did not provide further information about the death toll and identity of the victims. Another 14 suspected militants were killed and seven others sustained injuries in the second drone attack in Mantoi area of South Waziristan.
Tribal sources said the drone fired four missiles, pounding a house where a group of militants reportedly affiliated with the Hakimullah Mahsud-led TTP were residing. They said 14 militants died on the spot and seven others suffered injuries. There was no immediate information about the identity of the victims.
Drone strikes kill 26 in South Waziristan
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US message in drone strikes: If Pakistan doesn't take on Taliban, we will
By Howard LaFranchi, Staff writer / June 28, 2011
Washington
US drone attacks targeting militants in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region Monday sent a “we told you” message to Pakistan’s leadership: If you won’t take on the Taliban and other extremists crossing over to fight in Afghanistan, we will.
The Obama administration has stepped up drone strikes inside Pakistan over the past year – in particular in the North Waziristan region abutting Afghanistan in recent months. Pakistani officials have called publicly for the strikes to cease, insisting they alienate the general population.
At the same time, the Pakistani military has also promised – as recently as late May – that an offensive against North Waziristan’s havens was imminent. But no such offensive into North Waziristan, stronghold of groups like the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network, has been launched.
The strikes this week, which reportedly killed up to 21 militants, suggest the US has no intention of waiting.
The attacks occur as US-Pakistan relations, never easy, pass through a particularly tense period in the aftermath of the successful American raid that killed Osama bin Laden in his compound not far from the Pakistani capital.
Pakistan has ordered a steep reduction in the number of US intelligence agents and special-operations forces in the country, while some in the US Congress advocate cuts in aid to Pakistan. Some officials and experts on both sides conclude it’s time for a divorce between the two countries.
But Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week that, even though conducting diplomatic relations with Pakistan can be a “very outraging experience,” there remain compelling national security and regional stability reasons for the US to offer Pakistan substantial defense and development assistance.
Speaking at the same hearing, Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the senior Republican on the committee, offered a succinct argument for why the US needs a strategic partnership with Pakistan.
“Despite the death of Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups maintain a strong presence. And there is no question that the threat of these groups – combined with worries about state collapse, a Pakistani war with India, the safety of the Pakistani nuclear arsenal, and Pakistan’s intersection with other states in the region – make it a strategically vital country, worth the cost of engagement,” Senator Lugar said.
The drone strikes do not contradict that argument, but they also convey a message that the US has certain expectations of the relationship – and that the US will not sit by if it determines its national security is threatened, as President Obama stated in his June 22 speech on Afghanistan policy.
“So long as I am president, the United States will never tolerate a safe haven for those who aim to kill us,” Mr. Obama said.
Secretary Clinton has said she told Pakistani officials when she visited the country after the bin Laden operation that the US has set benchmarks for Pakistan to meet. Those include taking a more aggressive stance against terrorist groups and senior Al Qaeda leaders and supporting Taliban reconciliation in Afghanistan.
It is not clear if Clinton, who was accompanied by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, pressed upon the Pakistanis the importance of undertaking an offensive into North Waziristan. Some Pakistani military commanders announced publicly in the days following the Americans’ visit that such an operation would be forthcoming.
Some Pakistan experts caution against the US pressing for something that might end up backfiring. A Pakistani military push into North Waziristan could end up further destabilizing a precariously fragile Pakistani state, says Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.
“The US either doesn’t understand or chooses to disregard that having Pakistani forces enter that particular tribal area would have huge blowback,” Mr. Kugelman says. “It would very likely destabilize Pakistan more than it is now.”
Why? Militants in the region primarily focused on routing the US from Afghanistan might be flushed out of North Waziristan, Kugelman argues – and they might end up in neighboring territories where the militants are more focused on undermining the Pakistani state.
“If you have all these different groups banding together, you essentially have the conditions for the insurgency against the Pakistani government to increase,” Kugelman says. “The US has to consider that it has a much more vital interest in a stable Pakistan than any other interest in Afghanistan.”
US message in drone strikes: If Pakistan doesn't take on Taliban, we will - CSMonitor.com
By Howard LaFranchi, Staff writer / June 28, 2011
Washington
US drone attacks targeting militants in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region Monday sent a “we told you” message to Pakistan’s leadership: If you won’t take on the Taliban and other extremists crossing over to fight in Afghanistan, we will.
The Obama administration has stepped up drone strikes inside Pakistan over the past year – in particular in the North Waziristan region abutting Afghanistan in recent months. Pakistani officials have called publicly for the strikes to cease, insisting they alienate the general population.
At the same time, the Pakistani military has also promised – as recently as late May – that an offensive against North Waziristan’s havens was imminent. But no such offensive into North Waziristan, stronghold of groups like the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network, has been launched.
The strikes this week, which reportedly killed up to 21 militants, suggest the US has no intention of waiting.
The attacks occur as US-Pakistan relations, never easy, pass through a particularly tense period in the aftermath of the successful American raid that killed Osama bin Laden in his compound not far from the Pakistani capital.
Pakistan has ordered a steep reduction in the number of US intelligence agents and special-operations forces in the country, while some in the US Congress advocate cuts in aid to Pakistan. Some officials and experts on both sides conclude it’s time for a divorce between the two countries.
But Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week that, even though conducting diplomatic relations with Pakistan can be a “very outraging experience,” there remain compelling national security and regional stability reasons for the US to offer Pakistan substantial defense and development assistance.
Speaking at the same hearing, Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the senior Republican on the committee, offered a succinct argument for why the US needs a strategic partnership with Pakistan.
“Despite the death of Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups maintain a strong presence. And there is no question that the threat of these groups – combined with worries about state collapse, a Pakistani war with India, the safety of the Pakistani nuclear arsenal, and Pakistan’s intersection with other states in the region – make it a strategically vital country, worth the cost of engagement,” Senator Lugar said.
The drone strikes do not contradict that argument, but they also convey a message that the US has certain expectations of the relationship – and that the US will not sit by if it determines its national security is threatened, as President Obama stated in his June 22 speech on Afghanistan policy.
“So long as I am president, the United States will never tolerate a safe haven for those who aim to kill us,” Mr. Obama said.
Secretary Clinton has said she told Pakistani officials when she visited the country after the bin Laden operation that the US has set benchmarks for Pakistan to meet. Those include taking a more aggressive stance against terrorist groups and senior Al Qaeda leaders and supporting Taliban reconciliation in Afghanistan.
It is not clear if Clinton, who was accompanied by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, pressed upon the Pakistanis the importance of undertaking an offensive into North Waziristan. Some Pakistani military commanders announced publicly in the days following the Americans’ visit that such an operation would be forthcoming.
Some Pakistan experts caution against the US pressing for something that might end up backfiring. A Pakistani military push into North Waziristan could end up further destabilizing a precariously fragile Pakistani state, says Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.
“The US either doesn’t understand or chooses to disregard that having Pakistani forces enter that particular tribal area would have huge blowback,” Mr. Kugelman says. “It would very likely destabilize Pakistan more than it is now.”
Why? Militants in the region primarily focused on routing the US from Afghanistan might be flushed out of North Waziristan, Kugelman argues – and they might end up in neighboring territories where the militants are more focused on undermining the Pakistani state.
“If you have all these different groups banding together, you essentially have the conditions for the insurgency against the Pakistani government to increase,” Kugelman says. “The US has to consider that it has a much more vital interest in a stable Pakistan than any other interest in Afghanistan.”
US message in drone strikes: If Pakistan doesn't take on Taliban, we will - CSMonitor.com
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Pakistan wants US to vacate Shamsi airfield
By Mohsin Ali, Correspondent, Published: 23:43 June 29, 2011, Gulf News
Islamabad: Pakistan has asked the US to vacate the Shamsi airfield in the country's southwestern Balochistan province, which borders on both Afghanistan and Iran, Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar said on Wednesday.
"We have told them (the US officials) to leave the airbase," the Paksitani official news agency quoted the minister as saying in the garrison city of Rawalpindi near here.
The small air base, originally built for dignitaries from the Gulf Arab countries undertaking falconry trips, was given to the US forces that used it in the war in Afghanistan. The CIA is alleged to have used it for predator drone attacks.
The minister's statement was first official confirmation that the the base, located around 300 kilometers southwest of Quetta, was still with the US, with whom relations have been under severe strains since the unilteral May 2 US commando raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in his hideout in Abbottabad in Pakistan.
gulfnews : Pakistan wants US to vacate Shamsi airfield
By Mohsin Ali, Correspondent, Published: 23:43 June 29, 2011, Gulf News
Islamabad: Pakistan has asked the US to vacate the Shamsi airfield in the country's southwestern Balochistan province, which borders on both Afghanistan and Iran, Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar said on Wednesday.
"We have told them (the US officials) to leave the airbase," the Paksitani official news agency quoted the minister as saying in the garrison city of Rawalpindi near here.
The small air base, originally built for dignitaries from the Gulf Arab countries undertaking falconry trips, was given to the US forces that used it in the war in Afghanistan. The CIA is alleged to have used it for predator drone attacks.
The minister's statement was first official confirmation that the the base, located around 300 kilometers southwest of Quetta, was still with the US, with whom relations have been under severe strains since the unilteral May 2 US commando raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in his hideout in Abbottabad in Pakistan.
gulfnews : Pakistan wants US to vacate Shamsi airfield
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U.S. counter-terrorism strategy to rely on surgical strikes, unmanned drones
(Carolyn Kaster / AP), June 29, 2011, By Ken Dilanian
The Obama administration has concluded in a newly released counter-terrorism strategy that precision strikes and raids, rather than large land wars, are the most effective way to defeat Al Qaeda.
Brennan, a longtime former CIA officer, spoke at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, as the White House posted the new strategy on its website.
The strategy codifies policies the administration has been pursuing for 2 1/2 years, and much of it mirrors the practices of the Bush administration, Brennan said. But at its core is a repudiation of the thinking that sent large numbers of American troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. Al Qaeda’s leadership has been decimated, Brennan said, thanks not to the wars but to “unyielding pressure” from U.S. operations to kill the group's leaders one by one in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.
The more acute threats to the U.S. these days come from Al Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and perhaps Somalia, U.S. officials have said, and no one is contemplating sending large numbers of American troops to those countries.
Instead, the U.S. will pursue a war in the shadows, one relying heavily on missile strikes from unmanned aerial drones, raids by elite special operations troops, and quiet training of local forces to pursue terrorists.
Brennan said the recently announced troop reduction in Afghanistan would have no impact on U.S. counter-terrorism strategy in that country and Pakistan, where, he said, the U.S. has been delivering “precise and overwhelming force” against militants.
In the peculiar dance that marks the administration’s discussions of this issue, Brennan did not explicitly mention the vast expansion of drone strikes the U.S. has undertaken in Pakistan since January 2009— 213 of them, according to the New America Foundation, which counts them through media reports. That is because the program technically is secret, even though it is widely discussed and openly acknowledged by U.S. and Pakistani officials in private.
Later, when asked whether a policy of targeted killing was appropriate for the United States, Brennan responded that the U.S. is “exceptionally precise and surgical in terms of addressing the terrorist threat. And by that I mean, if there are terrorists who are within an area where there are women and children or others, you know, we do not take such action that might put those innocent men, women and children in danger.”
He added that in the last year, “there hasn't been a single collateral death because of the exceptional proficiency, precision of the capabilities that we've been able to develop.”
Brennan presumably was referring to covert strikes by the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command, because in April, two American servicemen were killed by a Hellfire missile fired from a military drone after apparently being mistaken for insurgents moving to attack another group of Marines in southern Afghanistan.
Brennan's willingness to boast about the precision of the drone strikes without actually acknowledging them underscores one of the implications of the Obama counter-terrorism strategy: It will be conducted largely in secret, without public accountability. When the military makes a mistake in a drone strike, as it has done in Afghanistan, there is an investigation and some transparency.
But when it comes to targeted killing by the CIA or clandestine special operations units, government officials are able to avoid public scrutiny, citing the need for secrecy. They are willing to make claims about limited civilian casualties, but are not willing to document those claims by, for example, releasing the video taken of each strike.
While members of Congress briefed on the drone program, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), back the administration's claims that civilian casualties are minimal, other experts, including Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer and Obama advisor, question how officials can be so sure.
Asked about this, the White House declined to comment.
U.S. counter-terrorism strategy to rely on surgical strikes, unmanned drones - Los Angeles Times
(Carolyn Kaster / AP), June 29, 2011, By Ken Dilanian
The Obama administration has concluded in a newly released counter-terrorism strategy that precision strikes and raids, rather than large land wars, are the most effective way to defeat Al Qaeda.
Brennan, a longtime former CIA officer, spoke at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, as the White House posted the new strategy on its website.
The strategy codifies policies the administration has been pursuing for 2 1/2 years, and much of it mirrors the practices of the Bush administration, Brennan said. But at its core is a repudiation of the thinking that sent large numbers of American troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. Al Qaeda’s leadership has been decimated, Brennan said, thanks not to the wars but to “unyielding pressure” from U.S. operations to kill the group's leaders one by one in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.
The more acute threats to the U.S. these days come from Al Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and perhaps Somalia, U.S. officials have said, and no one is contemplating sending large numbers of American troops to those countries.
Instead, the U.S. will pursue a war in the shadows, one relying heavily on missile strikes from unmanned aerial drones, raids by elite special operations troops, and quiet training of local forces to pursue terrorists.
Brennan said the recently announced troop reduction in Afghanistan would have no impact on U.S. counter-terrorism strategy in that country and Pakistan, where, he said, the U.S. has been delivering “precise and overwhelming force” against militants.
In the peculiar dance that marks the administration’s discussions of this issue, Brennan did not explicitly mention the vast expansion of drone strikes the U.S. has undertaken in Pakistan since January 2009— 213 of them, according to the New America Foundation, which counts them through media reports. That is because the program technically is secret, even though it is widely discussed and openly acknowledged by U.S. and Pakistani officials in private.
Later, when asked whether a policy of targeted killing was appropriate for the United States, Brennan responded that the U.S. is “exceptionally precise and surgical in terms of addressing the terrorist threat. And by that I mean, if there are terrorists who are within an area where there are women and children or others, you know, we do not take such action that might put those innocent men, women and children in danger.”
He added that in the last year, “there hasn't been a single collateral death because of the exceptional proficiency, precision of the capabilities that we've been able to develop.”
Brennan presumably was referring to covert strikes by the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command, because in April, two American servicemen were killed by a Hellfire missile fired from a military drone after apparently being mistaken for insurgents moving to attack another group of Marines in southern Afghanistan.
Brennan's willingness to boast about the precision of the drone strikes without actually acknowledging them underscores one of the implications of the Obama counter-terrorism strategy: It will be conducted largely in secret, without public accountability. When the military makes a mistake in a drone strike, as it has done in Afghanistan, there is an investigation and some transparency.
But when it comes to targeted killing by the CIA or clandestine special operations units, government officials are able to avoid public scrutiny, citing the need for secrecy. They are willing to make claims about limited civilian casualties, but are not willing to document those claims by, for example, releasing the video taken of each strike.
While members of Congress briefed on the drone program, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), back the administration's claims that civilian casualties are minimal, other experts, including Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer and Obama advisor, question how officials can be so sure.
Asked about this, the White House declined to comment.
U.S. counter-terrorism strategy to rely on surgical strikes, unmanned drones - Los Angeles Times
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US drone strike kills four in Miramshah
AFP (6 hours ago) Today
MIRAMSHAH: A US drone strike late Tuesday killed at least four militants in northwest Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt on the border with Afghanistan, local security officials said.
The drone fired two missiles at a guesthouse in Mir Ali, about 25 kilometres (16 miles) east of Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district, the officials said.
“The guesthouse was completely destroyed. At least four militants have been killed in this US drone attack,” said a security official in Mir Ali. “Five other militants were injured.” Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants have carved out strongholds in the tribal belt where they plot attacks on Pakistani, Afghan and Western targets.
Another security official in Miramshah confirmed the strike and put the death toll at six.
Both officials said they had reports that there were some foreign militants among the dead.
US drone strike kills four in Miramshah | Provinces | DAWN.COM
AFP (6 hours ago) Today
MIRAMSHAH: A US drone strike late Tuesday killed at least four militants in northwest Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt on the border with Afghanistan, local security officials said.
The drone fired two missiles at a guesthouse in Mir Ali, about 25 kilometres (16 miles) east of Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district, the officials said.
“The guesthouse was completely destroyed. At least four militants have been killed in this US drone attack,” said a security official in Mir Ali. “Five other militants were injured.” Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants have carved out strongholds in the tribal belt where they plot attacks on Pakistani, Afghan and Western targets.
Another security official in Miramshah confirmed the strike and put the death toll at six.
Both officials said they had reports that there were some foreign militants among the dead.
US drone strike kills four in Miramshah | Provinces | DAWN.COM
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