US Drone strikes in Pakistan are illegal under international law.

[Roybot]

At least 15 dead in South Waziristan drone strike | Provinces | DAWN.COM

MIRAMSHAH: US drones on Wednesday fired a salvo of missiles, destroying a house and killing 15 suspected militants in Pakistan’s Taliban-infested tribal badlands close to the Afghan border, officials said.

Four missiles slammed into the compound in the Baber Ghar area of South Waziristan, killing at least 15-18 suspected militants who were reported to be local Taliban fighters, the Pakistani security officials said.

US officials say Pakistan’s tribal districts provide sanctuary to Taliban fighting in the 10-year war against US troops in neighbouring Afghanistan and to al Qaeda-linked militants plotting attacks on the West.

“At least 10 militants have been killed. Most of them are local (Pakistani) Taliban,” said a security official in Peshawar, the main city in the northwest, which neighbours the tribal belt that Washington considers an al Qaeda hub.

Another security official in Wana, the main town of South Waziristan, confirmed Wednesday’s strike and casualties.

Officials said the attack took place at around 2:30 am about three kilometres from the border of Afghanistan’s Paktia province, one of the flashpoints in the 10-year Taliban insurgency.

Wednesday’s strike was the 63rd so far this year, according to an AFP tally.

On Tuesday, six militants were reported killed in a similar drone strike in Miramshah, the main town of the adjacent North Waziristan district.

---------- Post added at 06:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:06 PM ----------

Drone strike in South Waziristan kills 16 – The Express Tribune

PESHAWAR: Sixteen people, including militants from Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), were killed in a drone strike in the Babar area of Sararogha Tehsil on Wednesday, according to the political administration and intelligence sources in the area.

Local officials said that the territory belongs to the Mehsud tribe. The official added that about 25 TTP militants were reported to have been hiding in the area.Taliban sources confirmed that there were two militant training centers in the area run by Abdul Nasir and Abdul Mukhlis.

TTP has a strong hold in the Saktoi area which is located between South Waziristan and North Waziristan and has hardly any link or communication from outside.

About six missiles were fired at a compound, killing 16 people. Sources in the area said that the number of casualties is expected to rise.

 

[TruthSeeker]

US Predators kill 18 Taliban fighters in South Waziristan

By BILL ROGGIO, November 16, 2011

US Predators struck again in Pakistan's lawless tribal agencies, killing 18 Taliban fighters today in an airstrike carried out by multiple drones in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of South Waziristan.

A swarm of five unmanned CIA-operated Predators, or the more deadly Reapers, fired a barrage of up to 10 missiles "into the sprawling compound in the Baber Ghar area" in South Waziristan, according to AFP. The strike took place less than two miles from the border with Afghanistan's Paktia province.

The identities of those killed have not been disclosed. Among those reportedly killed along with some members of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan are several "foreign fighters," a term used to describe al Qaeda operatives. Although no senior Taliban or al Qaeda leaders have been reported killed, the mode of the strike - multiple drones firing a large amount of missiles - indicates the target was considered to be important.

The strike took place in an area of South Waziristan under the control of Mullah Nazir, a Taliban commander who also has expressed his affinity with al Qaeda.

"Good Taliban" leader Mullah Nazir also an al Qaeda leader

Mullah Nazir has openly supported Taliban emir Mullah Omar and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and wages jihad in Afghanistan. In an interview with the Asia Times, Nazir rejected claims that he opposed al Qaeda, and affirmed that he considered himself to be a member of the global terror organization.

"Al Qaeda and the Taliban are one and the same," Nazir said. "At an operational level we might have different strategies, but at the policy level we are one and the same.... This is wrong that I am anti-al Qaeda. I am part of al Qaeda."

Pakistan's military and intelligence services consider Nazir and his followers "good Taliban" as they do not openly seek the overthrow of the Pakistani state.

In the summer of 2009, the military signed a peace agreement with Nazir stipulating that he would not shelter al Qaeda or members of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, which were based in the Mehsud tribal areas of South Waziristan. The Pakistani government launched a military operation against the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan in October 2009, but left Nazir's areas untouched. Nazir has continued to allow the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, al Qaeda, and other terror groups safe haven in his tribal areas.

Significantly, more senior al Qaeda leaders have been killed in Nazir's tribal areas during the US air campaign than in those of any other Taliban leader in Pakistan. Nazir also shelters the Mehsuds from the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, in violation of the peace agreement with the Pakistani government.

In the past, the US has killed several senior al Qaeda leaders in Nazir's territories. One of the most senior al Qaeda leaders killed was Midhat Mursi al Sayyid Umar, who is better known as Abu Khabab al Masri. Abu Khabab was killed along with four members of his staff in a Predator strike on July 28, 2008.

Two other top al Qaeda leaders killed while in Nazir's care were Osama al Kini (Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam), al Qaeda's operations chief in Pakistan; and Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, one of al Kini's senior aides. They died in an airstrike in the town of Karikot on Jan. 1, 2009. Both men were wanted by the US for their involvement in the 1998 suicide attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The US believes it killed Abu Zaid al Iraqi during a Feb. 20, 2010 airstrike in Azam Warzak. Abu Zaid is said to be al Qaeda's top financier in Pakistan.

In another strike in Nazir's territory in 2010, US Predators killed Abu Hazwa Jawfi, who is said to have led Jundallah, a Pakistani terror group that is based in Karachi and maintains close ties with al Qaeda.

And earlier this year, Ilyas Kashmiri, the leader of al Qaeda's Lashkar-al-Zil, or Shadow Army, was reported to have been killed in a June 3 Predator strike in Nazir's tribal areas. Kashmiri's death has not been confirmed, however.


Read more: US Predators kill 18 Taliban fighters in South Waziristan - The Long War Journal

 

[Roybot]

Drone strike in N Waziristan kills 9

PESHAWAR: Nine suspected militants were killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan on Thursday.
According to initial reports, five missiles were fired at a house in the Razmak area of the tribal region near the Afghan border.

The strike comes a day after 16 people, including two fighters of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), were killed on Wednesday in the deadliest US drone strike in three months.

 

[TruthSeeker]

US Predators kill 7 'militants' in North Waziristan

By BILL ROGGIO, November 17, 2011

US Predators struck for the third day in a row in Pakistan's tribal agencies, killing seven "militants" today in an area of North Waziristan that has not previously been targeted in the eight years since the drone strike program began.

The CIA-operated Predators, or the more deadly Reapers, fired four missiles at a compound in the Ramzak area of North Waziristan, Pakistani officials told The Associated Press. Between four and seven "militants" were killed in the strike, according to Geo News; AP put the number of deaths at seven.

The identities of those killed have not been disclosed, and no senior Taliban or al Qaeda leaders have been reported killed.

The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan is known to operate in the Ramzak area of North Waziristan. In the past, the terror group has clashed with Pakistani troops in the region. Ramzak is also the site of a large Pakistani military base.

Read more: US Predators kill 7 'militants' in North Waziristan - The Long War Journal

 

[TruthSeeker]

2 Brits thought killed in US drone strike in Pakistan

By BILL ROGGIO, November 18, 2011

Two British Muslims were killed in a US Predator airstrike that took place in the Waziristan tribal areas about three months ago, according to their families. One of the men had fled the United Kingdom after being placed under a so-called "control order" that is designed to limit the movement of a terrorist suspect. The other man, the brother of a senior al Qaeda leader who was also killed by the US in Pakistan, had been hit with financial sanctions in the United Kingdom due to suspected ties with terror groups.

The two Brits were identified as Ibrahim Adam and Mohammed Azmir. They were said to have been killed sometime in August, according to AFP.

The US carried out six airstrikes in Pakistan's tribal agencies in August; four were in North Waziristan, and two were in South Waziristan. One of the strikes, on Aug. 22, took place in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan. Mir Ali is known to host groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and al Qaeda. Both groups train Europeans to conduct attacks in their home countries.

At least one Briton is known to have been killed in a Predator airstrike in North Waziristan. On Sept. 8, 2010, Abdul Jabbar was killed in a US airstrike in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan. Two Germans were also killed in the strike. Jabbar, who was originally from Jhelum in Pakistan, was said to have been appointed as the future leader of the so-called Islamic Army of Great Britain. The group was formed by al Qaeda to participate in Mumbai-styled terror assaults that were to take place in Britain and other European countries.

Although both Adam and Azmir were known to be involved in terrorist activities, the British government had allowed the men to leave the country.

Azmir is the brother of Abdul Jabbar. Azmir "was slapped with a finance ministry order in February 2010 freezing his assets over concerns that he was involved in funding terrorism," according to AFP. It is unclear when he left the country.

Adam was the subject of a controversial control order, a form of house arrest which restricted his movements and allowed him to be monitored by authorities. He absconded on the control order along with his brother Lalime Adam and four others. Ibrahim and Lalime are brothers of Anthony Garcia, who is in jail for plotting to carry out bombings in the United Kingdom.

Adam is the second known jihadist to have been reported killed in the Afghan-Pakistan region after being subjected to a control order in Britain. Mahmud Abu Rideh, a Palestinian from Khan Younis who was jailed for four years in the United Kingdom after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, is reported to have been killed by the US military in an airstrike in Afghanistan in late 2010.

In 2004, Britain's highest court ruled that the emergency laws that allowed the government to hold Abu Rideh violated his human rights, and ordered his release. In March 2005, Abu Rideh was released from prison but was subject to a control order. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International took up Abu Rideh's case and sought to block his deportation to Jordan due to fears he would be tortured by Jordan's General Intelligence Department.

In July 2009, Abu Rideh, with the help of Amnesty International, succeeded in having the control order lifted. Amnesty International then sought to have his overseas travel restrictions lifted. He did an interview with an Iranian news agency in August 2009 and then disappeared shortly afterward.

Read more: 2 Brits thought killed in US drone strike in Pakistan - The Long War Journal

 

[TruthSeeker]

Jihadists announce deaths of 21 Turks linked to the Haqqani Network

By BILL ROGGIO, December 1, 2011

A jihadist media outlet that supports Turkish terrorists fighting along the Afghan-Pakistan border said that 21 of its fighters were killed in a US airstrike in Afghanistan, while another fighter was killed in a drone strike in North Waziristan, Pakistan. All of the Turkish fighters who were killed were linked to the Haqqani Network.

Gazavat Media, a jihadist propaganda website that caters to Turkish jihadists belonging to the Taifatul Mansura, or the Victorious Sect, released a statement that announced the deaths of 21 "Turkish mujahideen affiliated with the Haqqani group," according to the SITE Intelligence Group. The statement was released on jihadist web forums on Nov. 30. The date of the death and the exact location was not disclosed.

"It was confirmed that the number of the Turkish mujahideen affiliated with the Haqqani group was 21, and that there were also mujahideen heavily wounded in the attack," the statement said. The Turkish fighters were killed in a so-called "low-intensity chemical weapon attack," but did not provide any further details. Eighteen of the fighters were identified by name, however three have yet to be named. The statement said the 21 Turkish fighters were members of one of several "mujahideen units" that operate along the Afghan-Pakistan border who attack the "occupiers."

In a separate statement released on Nov. 28, Gazavat Media said that another Turkish fighters was killed in a US Predator airstrike in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan.

"The mujahid of Turkish citizenship, who fought with the Haqqani group known as the Pakistani Taliban, was reported to have been affiliated with the group for the last three years," according to the Nov. 28 statement, which was translated by SITE. "The sources have reported that the Turkish citizen, M.E., who was martyred in a house hit by NATO drones, resided in Istanbul and was a registered resident of Gaziantep."

A number of al Qaeda linked groups from outside of Afghanistan and Pakistan flock to the region, and are known to fight alongside the Haqqani Network. Among those groups are the Islamic movement of Uzbekistan and its offshoot, the Islamic Jihad Union; the Caucasus Mujahideen in Khorasan; Jund al Khilafah; and the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement.

Background on the Victorious Sect

The Victorious Sect is a transnational Turkish jihadist group that operates along the Afghan-Pakistani border and is based in North Waziristan. Its fighters operate in Eastern Afghanistan alongside the Taliban and its powerful subgroup, the Haqqani Network.

The Victorious Sect was established in 2009 by the Islamic Jihad Union, a splinter faction of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, to accommodate the increasing influx of European foreign fighters in the region, according to DPA. Scores of German and other European fighters belong to the Victorious Sect.

The Victorious Sect has issued multiple statements from Pakistan's tribal areas. In June 2010, Abu Yasir al Turki, the spokesman for the the group announced the deaths of two al Qaeda fighters and a Turkish fighter in a US Predator strike in North Waziristan. The Victorious Sect also announced the death of Eric Breininger, a German member of the Islamic Jihad Union who was killed while fighting Pakistani security forces during a clash near Mir Ali in North Waziristan on April 30, 2010. In 2009, Abdul Fettah Almani was seen in a video seated next to Breininger.

In August 2011, the Victorious Sect issued a statement that Mounir Chouka, a German citizen known as Abu Adam, may have been wounded in a US Predator airstrike. The report was not confirmed. Chouka and his brother, Yassin, fight with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan in Pakistan. Mounir is also a senior member of Jundallah Media, the IMU's media production arm.

And in October, the Victorious Sect announced the death of Abdul Fettah al Almani, the leader of the group known as the "German Taliban Mujahideen."

Read more: Jihadists announce deaths of 21 Turks linked to the Haqqani Network - The Long War Journal

 

[TruthSeeker]

Al Qaeda announces death of Atiyah Abd al Rahman

By BILL ROGGIO, December 1, 2011

The emir of al Qaeda has announced the death of Atiyah Abd al Rahman, a top leader who was targeted by the US in a drone strike in August.

Ayman al Zawahiri released a videotape today on jihadist web forums announcing Atiyah's death, as well as that of his son, 'Issam. The statement was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

Atiyah, whose real name is Jamal Ibrahim Ashtiwi al Misrati, was also known as Atiyah Allah. He was a senior leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group before rising to the top ranks of al Qaeda's leadership. Atiyah has been described as al Qaeda's "operations chief" and second in command in most press reports, and his role in plotting terrorist attacks has been repeatedly noted. But according to one senior US intelligence official contacted by The Long War Journal, Atiyah was al Qaeda's "general manager" and also served as Osama bin Laden's "chief of staff" before the al Qaeda emir was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in May.

Atiyah was killed in the Aug. 22 strike in Norak in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan. Mir Ali is a known haven for a multitude of jihadist groups, including al Qaeda. A senior local al Qaeda leader known as Abu Kasha al Iraqi operates in Mir Ali, and is closely tied to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Taliban, and a host of other allied terror groups.

At the time of his death, Aytiah was reported to have been spotted in Mir Ali along with Taliban and Uzbek supporters. He was thought to have been making "a goodwill tour of North Waziristan," The News speculated.

Atiyah's death was masked by al Qaeda for more than three months. At the end of August, As Sahab, al Qaeda's propaganda outlet, released a Ramadan tape that included statements made by Atiyah. The tape was released eight days after the strike, but appears to had been produced before he was killed. An article written by Atiyah was also included in the September edition of "Vanguards of Khorasan," an al Qaeda magazine.

Atiyah is the latest senior al Qaeda leader killed in US Predator strikes in Pakistan this year. Other terrorist leaders killed in Pakistan in 2011 include:

Abu Miqdad al Masri, a member of al Qaeda's Shura Majlis, and Abd al Rahman al Yemeni, a senior operative, were killed in strikes in North Waziristan on Oct. 13 and 14.

Ahmed Omar Abdul Rahman, a senior al Qaeda operative with ties to the Haqqani Network, was one of three Egyptians killed on Oct. 14 in North Waziristan. Rahman was a son of the 'Blind Sheikh,' the spiritual leader of the Egyptian Islamic Group who is in prison in the US for his involvement in the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center.

Jan Baz Zadran, described by US intelligence as the Haqqani Network's third in command, was killed on Oct. 13 in North Waziristan.

For a list of al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in the US air campaign in Pakistan, see LWJ Special Report, Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2011.

Read more: Al Qaeda announces death of Atiyah Abd al Rahman - The Long War Journal

 

[TruthSeeker]

US drone strikes 'on hold' in Pakistan: US official

By BILL ROGGIO, December 12, 2011

As the US-Pakistan relationship continues to unravel, the US has placed its covert air campaign that targets al Qaeda and Taliban operatives in Pakistan's tribal agencies "on hold."

Several US intelligence officials involved in the CIA program, which uses unmanned Predator and Reaper strike aircraft, more commonly called drones, told The Long War Journal that US officials fear that an attack at this point in time would further damage the already fragile relationship between the US and Pakistan.

Relations between the two countries have been deteriorating over the past two years as the US has ramped up the drone program while accusing Pakistan of supporting the Taliban and other terror groups. The Raymond Davis affair and the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan earlier this year further inflamed the Pakistanis. But the Nov. 26 US airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani troops in Mohmand has led to Pakistan's shutting down the Chaman and Torkham (Khyber Pass) border crossings to NATO supply convoys.

"There is concern that another hit [by the drones] will push US-Pakistan relations past the point of no return," one official told The Long War Journal. "We don't know how far we can push them [Pakistan], how much more they are willing to tolerate."

One official was clear that the program is "on hold" but that they would consider striking if a target of opportunity presented itself.

"We may strike soon if an extremely high value target pops up, but otherwise there is hesitation to pull the trigger right now," the intelligence official said. The official refused to say which terror leaders would cause the US to reconsider the pause, and attack.

The drone strikes have stopped since mid-November, after the pace of strikes began picking up during the previous two months. The last US strike was on Nov. 17, or 25 days ago. This is one of the longest pauses in the program since CIA contractor Raymond Davis killed two Pakistanis on the streets of Lahore in what he claimed was self-defense early this year.

In addition to closing the Chaman and Torkham border crossings, Pakistan has responded to the Nov. 26 strike in Mohmand by shutting down the Shamsi Airbase to the US military and the CIA. The base was used to support US Predators and Reapers flying sorties in Pakistan.

Also, the Pakistani military claims it has beefed up its anti-aircraft capabilities along its western border and said it would deny its airspace to the US drones. The Pakistani Army is said to be issuing shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles to its troops on the border.

Additionally, Pakistan boycotted the Bonn Conference, which was held last week as part of an effort to get the international community and regional actors to help Afghanistan and end the war against the Taliban.

The pause in the drone program, and Pakistan's vow to shoot down the US aircraft, threaten the Obama administration's strategy against al Qaeda. The administration has elevated counterterrorism efforts, of which the drone strikes are the premier tool, over counterinsurgency as the primary means to defeat al Qaeda and allied terror groups. If the US is unable to strike in Pakistan's tribal areas, the terror groups headquartered there will again be able to operate unfettered.


Read more: US drone strikes 'on hold' in Pakistan: US official - The Long War Journal

 

[hembo]

CIA likely to resume drone strikes
UAVs may be launch*ed from US milita*ry base at Bagram, Afghan*istan.
By Zia Khan
Published: January 9, 2012

ISLAMABAD: America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is likely to resume the drone campaign that it had apparently called off following a deadly Nato airstrike on Pakistani border posts in the Mohmand tribal region on November 26, 2011. However, this time around, the frequency and intensity of attacks by pilot-less aircraft would not be as high as it was in the past.

Sources told The Express Tribune on Sunday that both sides have almost agreed on ‘fresh terms of engagements’ to resume drone attacks against suspected al Qaeda members and their local facilitators hiding in the tribal areas, including North and South Waziristan.

The deadly aircraft operated from the CIA Headquarters at Langley in McClean, Virginia, would now be flying from American airbases in Afghanistan, said an official privy to the developments taking place behind the scene.

The Bagram airbase, just outside the Afghan capital Kabul, might be the new launch pad for drone attacks inside Pakistan in the future, said the official.

Conditions

Though the parliamentary committee on the national security is still working out new terms of engagement with the US, it was recently reported that top intelligence officials from Pakistan and the US were already busy in secret talks to lower tensions.

Officials said the resumption of drone strikes might be under new conditions. They added that Pakistani negotiators had convinced their American counterparts on at least a couple of conditions: First, the drone strikes should not be as frequent as they were in 2010 and 2011. And second, the CIA should narrow the stripe the aircraft were targeting under the approach known as ‘box formation’ in military terms.

“We don’t want them to be that frequent … it creates problems for us by invoking public anger,” the official added, saying Pakistani authorities believed drones were ‘strategically harmful but tactically advantageous’.

About the box approach, he added that the areas the Pakistani military had already claimed to have cleared must not be hit. “We want them to be within a smaller radius,” the official explained.

 

[Roybot]

US drone attack kills four militants in Pakistan: Officials – The Express Tribune

MIRANSHAH: After a lull of about 55 days, the valley’s of Pakistan’s tribal region reverberated once more with missile fire from stealthy US air borne drones. Two missiles destroyed a militant compound in Pakistan’s tribal area near the Afghan border, killing four militants late on Tuesday, security officials said.

 

[Bl[i]tZ]

US drone attack kills four militants in Pakistan: Officials – The Express Tribune

Wow, I thought they'd reach some sort of agreement with the Pakistanis first or may be the agreement has already been reached.

It was said that CIA would cover a lesser area under its drone operation and reduce the frequency of its strikes.

 

[manojb]

I think isi and cia working together again. Bad news for terrorists.

 

[Vassnti]

We don’t want them to be that frequent … it creates problems for us by invoking public anger,” the official added, saying Pakistani authorities believed drones were ‘strategically harmful but tactically advantageous’

This should be required reading before posting on PDF. Any time you feel like bitching about US drones remember the Pakistan goverment approved it and Kayani allows it if not approves.

 

[pakistanitarzan]

gotta be a very high target otherwise there was gonna be a break in drone strike for quite some time!

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

This should be required reading before posting on PDF. Any time you feel like bitching about US drones remember the Pakistan goverment approved it and Kayani allows it if not approves.

Which is absolutely no reason to not continue to condemn the drone strikes and the decisions of those in power to approve them.

If drone strikes need to be conducted on Pakistani soil, they should be done by Pakistani operators with US observers - period.

Till then, and until the GoP officially comes out with an agreement with the US authorizing the US to conduct these strikes, these strikes are illegal under international law and unjustified.