US Drone strikes in Pakistan are illegal under international law.

[TruthSeeker]

U.S. drone strikes in northwest Pakistan kill 4

19 August 2011

MIRANSHAH, PAKISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- U.S. drone strikes in southwestern Pakistan on Friday killed at least four suspected militants, local media reported.

A U.S. drone launched two missile strikes on Friday afternoon at a residential house which was suspected to be a militant hideout in the Tehsil Bermal area of Pakistan's volatile tribal region of South Waziristan, the Nation reported. Four people were killed and two others were injured.

Last Tuesday, another four people were killed during U.S. drone strikes in Miranshah, the main town in Pakistan's North Waziristan region. And earlier in the month, on August 1 and 2, unmanned aircraft killed an additional four people in South Waziristan, and then another four in North Waziristan the following day.

Channel 6 News » U.S. drone strikes in northwest Pakistan kill 4

US missile strike kills 4 in SWA

South Asian News Agency (SANA) ⋅ August 20, 2011 ⋅

WANA, (SANA): At least four persons were killed when US drone hits a house of Mullah Nazir group important commander in Shin Warsak area of South Waziristan Agency here on Friday.

According to the locals the killed persons were Punjabi Taliban; meanwhile according to the political administration the attack occurred 12 kilometers away from Wana in Barmal sub-district in Shin Warsak area.

According to the sources the drone fired two missiles on a house of Commander Noor Muhammad killing four persons.

According to the locals the killed persons were living in the house from a long time, adding that the dead bodies were buried after the attack.

South Asian News Agency | US missile strike kills 4 in SWA

4 dead in SWA drone attack

Published: August 20, 2011

PESHAWAR - At least four suspected persons were killed and two others sustained injuries in a US drone missile attack in South Waziristan Agency on Friday.

Sources said that a suspected US drone fired at least two missiles at a house situated in Sheen Warsak area of Tehsil Barmal, South Waziristan Agency. Resultantly, four suspected persons were killed while two others sustained injuries. They said that it was confirmed that a US drone had fired at least two missiles at a house owned by Ahmad Noor in Sheen Warsak village. Some reports also said that two of those killed in the attack were stated to be foreigners.

They said that the targeted house was destroyed completely in the strike.

http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-...litics/20-Aug-2011/4-dead-in-SWA-drone-attack

 

[TruthSeeker]

US drone attack kills four militants in North Waziristan

AFP, Yesterday

MIRANSHAH: A US drone strike targeting a vehicle in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt on Monday killed at least four militants, local security officials said.

The unmanned aircraft fired two missiles, hitting a vehicle and a guest house of a local tribal elder in the Nurak area of North Waziristan, the Pakistani officials told AFP.

“The unmanned aircraft fired two missiles at the vehicle and killed at least four militants in the strike,” one security official told AFP on the condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to media.

“A guest house of a local tribal elder was also destroyed in the attack. However, it was not immediately known if there was anybody inside the guest house at the time of the attack,” he added.

Nurak area is 20 kilometers (12 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town of the district of North Waziristan, considered a militant stronghold.

The security official said initial reports suggested that a group of militants were travelling in the vehicle at the time of the attack.

US drone attack kills four militants in North Waziristan | Provinces | DAWN.COM

 

[TruthSeeker]

Al Qaeda’s No. 2 Killed in Pakistan, U.S. Official Says

By MARK MAZZETTI, August 27, 2011

WASHINGTON — A drone operated by the Central Intelligence Agency killed Al Qaeda’s second-ranking operative in the mountains of Pakistan earlier this month, an American official said on Saturday, further weakening a terror network that has been reeling since the killing of Osama bin Laden earlier this year.

The official said that a drone strike on Aug. 22 killed Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, a Libyan who in the last year had taken over as Al Qaeda’s top operational planner. Mr. Rahman was in frequent contact with Bin Laden in the months before the terror leader was killed in May by a team of Navy Seals, intelligence officials have said.

American officials described Mr. Rahman’s death as particularly significant as compared with other high-ranking Qaeda operatives who have been killed because he was one of a new generation of Qaeda leaders that the network hoped would assume greater control after Bin Laden’s death.

Thousands of electronic files captured at Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, revealed that Bin Laden communicated frequently with Mr. Rahman. They also showed that Bin Laden relied on Mr. Rahman to get messages to other Qaeda leaders and to transmit Bin Laden’s messages to the wider world.

After Bin Laden was killed, Mr. Rahman became Al Qaeda’s No. 2 figure under Ayman al-Zawahiri, who succeeded Bin Laden.

There were few details on Saturday about the strike that killed Mr. Rahman. In the months since Bin Laden’s death, the C.I.A. has maintained a steady barrage of drone missile strikes on mountainous redoubts in Pakistan, a bombing campaign that continues to strain America’s already turbulent relationship with Pakistan.

“Atiyah was at the top of Al Qaeda’s trusted core,” the American official said. “His combination of background, experience and abilities are unique in Al Qaeda — without question, they will not be easily replaced.”

After Bin Laden’s death, some intelligence officials saw a cadre of Libyan operatives as poised to assume greater control inside Al Qaeda, a terror group that at times has experienced friction among operatives of different nationalities.

Libyan operatives like Mr. Rahman, they said, had long bristled at the leadership of an older generation of Qaeda leaders, many of them Egyptian like Mr. Zawahiri.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/world/asia/28qaeda.html

 

[air marshal]

A US drone strike killed at least 4 militants sunday in the Hisokhel village of North Waziristan tribal district. - AFP

 

[TruthSeeker]

US drone kills four militants in North Waziristan

Published: September 12, 2011

PESHAWAR (AFP) - A US drone strike killed at least four militants Sunday in North Waziristan, security officials said. The unmanned aircraft fired two missiles, hitting a vehicle and a house in the Hisokhel village of lawless North Waziristan tribal district, security officials told AFP. “A US drone fired two missiles on a vehicle in Hisokhel village and at least four militants were killed,” a senior Pakistani security official said. A nearby house was also damaged in the missile strike, he added.

The identities of the militants killed in the attack, which took place some 30 kilometres east of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan, were not immediately clear, he said.

Another security official and a local intelligence official confirmed the attack and casualties. The attack came as the world observed the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US.

US drone kills four militants in North Waziristan | Pakistan | News | Newspaper | Daily | English | Online

 

[TruthSeeker]

Five killed in NWA drone attack


our correspondent
Monday, September 12, 2011





MIRAMSHAH: Five persons were killed and some others sustained injuries in a US drone attack on a house and a vehicle at Hasukhel village in Mir Ali subdivision in North Waziristan on Sunday, tribal sources said.

Sources said the drone fired two missiles and hit a house and a double cabin pickup truck parked there. The villagers said five bodies were pulled out of the rubble of the house that collapsed in the attack. They said some of the injured were pulled out of the debris and taken to a local private health facility.

The locals said a group of armed militants later arrived there and took control of the area and started rescue work.* Sources feared the death toll could rise as rescue workers searched for bodies and injured in the debris of the collapsed structure of the house.

Five killed in NWA drone attack

*This is why no one knows how many "innocents" are killed in these drone strikes. The "armed militants" always show up and "control" both the scene and the information, not the GoP.

 

[53fd]

Five killed in NWA drone attack


our correspondent
Monday, September 12, 2011





MIRAMSHAH: Five persons were killed and some others sustained injuries in a US drone attack on a house and a vehicle at Hasukhel village in Mir Ali subdivision in North Waziristan on Sunday, tribal sources said.

Sources said the drone fired two missiles and hit a house and a double cabin pickup truck parked there. The villagers said five bodies were pulled out of the rubble of the house that collapsed in the attack. They said some of the injured were pulled out of the debris and taken to a local private health facility.

The locals said a group of armed militants later arrived there and took control of the area and started rescue work.* Sources feared the death toll could rise as rescue workers searched for bodies and injured in the debris of the collapsed structure of the house.

Five killed in NWA drone attack

*This is why no one knows how many "innocents" are killed in these drone strikes. The "armed militants" always show up and "control" both the scene and the information, not the GoP.

So in other words, you don't want to change this failing policy, & would rather see innocent people get killed in drone strikes?

 

[TruthSeeker]

So in other words, you don't want to change this failing policy, & would rather see innocent people get killed in drone strikes?

I don't believe the policy is failing. What I would most like to see is the GoP and the PA to gain control of all of Pakistan, including FATA and Balouchistan, and stop allowing the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda affiliates from training in Pakistan and launching attacks into Afghanistan. As long as Pakistan fails to exert actual sovereignty over these areas, then the US will wage its war against its enemies who shelter on Pakistani soil via drone strikes. Some innocent people will be killed. That is what makes war so terrible. Pakistan has it within its power to stop the drone strikes. All it has to do is become the true sovereign of its territory. Why doesn't it?

 

[53fd]

I don't believe the policy is failing. What I would most like to see is the GoP and the PA to gain control of all of Pakistan, including FATA and Balouchistan, and stop allowing the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda affiliates from training in Pakistan and launching attacks into Afghanistan. As long as Pakistan fails to exert actual sovereignty over these areas, then the US will wage its war against its enemies who shelter on Pakistani soil via drone strikes. Some innocent people will be killed. That is what makes war so terrible. Pakistan has it within its power to stop the drone strikes. All it has to do is become the true sovereign of its territory. Why doesn't it?

If you are up to date with the latest events, Pakistan has recaptured almost all of FATA, while the TTP & other terrorists have fled to the safe havens in Afghanistan, which aren't being tackled obviously.

 

[TruthSeeker]

If you are up to date with the latest events, Pakistan has recaptured almost all of FATA, while the TTP & other terrorists have fled to the safe havens in Afghanistan, which aren't being tackled obviously.

The drone strikes are happening in those places not covered by your "almost". When you can say "all" instead of "almost all", the drone strikes will stop. As for safe havens in Afghanistan, get ready. When the USA leaves next year, you and Afghanistan can duke it out across each others border all you want.

 

[53fd]

The drone strikes are happening in those places not covered by your "almost". When you can say "all" instead of "almost all", the drone strikes will stop. As for safe havens in Afghanistan, get ready. When the USA leaves next year, you and Afghanistan can duke it out across each others border all you want.

In other words, you are not serious in eliminating terrorism, are you, if you wish that the Afghan safe havens that are not along the AfPak border remain untackled?

 

[TruthSeeker]

In other words, you are not serious in eliminating terrorism, are you, if you wish that the Afghan safe havens that are not along the AfPak border remain untackled?

I wish ALL terrorist havens were obilterated, whereever they are. I am, however, totally frustrated that the GoP and the PA, after all this time, still allow the Haqqanis and Hekmatyar and others to attack Afghanistan. There is a wee bit of irony that now, some, like yourself, are whining about the terrorism blowback from the west. Move your whole army over there and stop it instead of having them guard against a non-existent Indian threat over on the eastern side.

 

[53fd]

I wish ALL terrorist havens were obilterated, whereever they are. I am, however, totally frustrated that the GoP and the PA, after all this time, still allow the Haqqanis and Hekmatyar and others to attack Afghanistan. There is a wee bit of irony that now, some, like yourself, are whining about the terrorism blowback from the west. Move your whole army over there and stop it instead of having them guard against a non-existent Indian threat over on the eastern side.

You forget who started this WOT, & on what pretext.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Senior al Qaeda militant killed in U.S. drone strike

WASHINGTON | Thu Sep 15, 2011 12:57pm EDT

(Reuters) - Al Qaeda's chief of operations in Pakistan has been killed in a CIA drone strike, two U.S. officials said Thursday.

The officials identified the target of the drone attack as Abu Hafs al Shahri, a Saudi national who had been serving as the senior figure in al Qaeda's central command in charge of dealing with operations inside of Pakistan.

The drone strike occurred in Pakistan's tribal areas within the last few days, the officials said, but they declined to provide more precise details.

As al Qaeda's Pakistan operations chief, one of the officials said, al Shahri's responsibilities included coordinating the activities of al Qaeda's depleted central leadership with Pakistan's principal network of Taliban militants, known as the TTP.

"This is another blow at the core of al Qaeda in Pakistan," a U.S. official said. "The loss of their chief of operations in Pakistan, an individual who played a key operational and administrative role for the group, will pose a challenge for (Ayman) Zawahiri."

Zawahiri is the Egyptian doctor who succeeded Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a U.S. raid, as al Qaeda leader.

The official said al Shahri had been "a contender" to assume some of the duties of Atiyah abd al Rahman, a Libyan killed in an August drone strike. Rahman had reportedly assumed al Qaeda's No. 2 leadership role after bin Laden was killed by U.S. commandos in a May raid on his Pakistani hideout.

The official said al Shahri's job included coordinating al Qaeda's "anti-U.S. plotting in the region," and working closely "with the Pakistani Taliban to carry out attacks inside Pakistan."

Another senior al Qaeda leader, Younis al Mauretani, was recently captured in Pakistan's tribal areas in a joint operation staged by U.S. and Pakistani security forces.

U.S. and European officials have said that as a result of recent successful operations to kill or capture senior al Qaeda leaders, the group's core organization has been badly wounded and is almost certainly incapable of mounting another operation on the scale of the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington.

(Reporting by Mark Hosenball; Editing by Warren Strobel and Vicki Allen)

Senior al Qaeda militant killed in U.S. drone strike | Reuters

 

[TruthSeeker]

Abu Hafs al Shahri confirmed killed in Predator strike in Pakistan

By BILL ROGGIO, September 17, 2011

Abu Hafs al Shahri, whom US intelligence officials have described as al Qaeda's operations chief for Pakistan, has been confirmed killed in the Sept. 11 Predator airstrike in Pakistan's tribal agency of North Waziristan. Shahri, whose real name is Osama Hamud Gharman al Shahri, was listed among the 85-most-wanted terrorists by Saudi Arabia in 2009.

According to Al Hayat Online, Shahri's mother was contacted "by a relative of her son's wife who is a foreigner" to inform her of her son's death. "His family received condolences on his death in Riyadh," the newspaper continued. Al Qaeda has yet to release an official martyrdom statement announcing his death, but the terror group routinely notifies the family when an operative is killed.

The Sept. 11 strike is the only attack by the unmanned US Predators and Reapers in Pakistan's tribal areas since the Aug. 22 strike that is thought to have killed Atiyah Abd al Rahman, another top al Qaeda leader. Atiyah's death has not been confirmed, as al Qaeda has not announced his death [see LWJ report, Al Qaeda releases Ramadan tape by Atiyah Abd al Rahman; and Threat Matrix report, 'Attiya Allah' authors article in latest edition of al Qaeda magazine].

A Haqqani Network commander named Hafeezullah and a "foreigner," a term often used to describe Arabs and other non-Pakistanis, were among four "militants" reported killed in the Sept. 11 strike.

Shahri joined al Qaeda prior to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on US. He was the cousin of Sa'ad Mohammad al Shahri, a senior al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan who was a close associate of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Sa'ad al Shahri was killed in a US airstrike in Afghanistan's Kunar province on Sept. 25, 2010 that also killed al Qaeda commander Abdallah Umar al Qurayshi, an explosives expert named Abu Atta al Kuwaiti, "and several Arabic foreign fighters." Like Abu Hafs al Shahri, Sa'ad's family was notified of his death.

Before rising to a top leadership position in al Qaeda, Abu Hafs al Shahri served as a member of Osama bin Laden's security detail, the Black Guard. He also served as a military trainer in al Qaeda's camps.

As al Qaeda's operational commander in Pakistan, Shahri coordinated attacks with the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and other local jihadist groups. US intelligence officials believe that he was being groomed to assume some of Atiyah's responsibilities. According to Al Hayat Online, Shahri "was planning to return to Saudi Arabia to carry out a terrorist operation."

Read more: Abu Hafs al Shahri confirmed killed in Predator strike in Pakistan - The Long War Journal

---------- Post added at 10:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:41 PM ----------

^^^^^
The fact that such al Qaeda operatives are operating on Pakistani soil is the clear and justifiable reason for US drone strikes on so-called Pakistani soil. Until Pakistan stops such people from sheltering and operating from her soil, USA drone strikes will be moral.