Oh boy...here we go. The Long War Journal here has a great piece on this disputed instance of U.S. troops landing by helicopter in NW Pakistan's South Waziristan province and conducting a raid on a village there - Pakistanis are claiming 15 to 19 were killed including civilians. Here's some of the details:
And now, I'll show you why I'm bringing this to you from The Long War Journal and not Reuter's or AP:
My gut feeling is that this attack did take place by Task Force 88. Remember, Task Force 88 has one mission and that is to hunt down and kill primarily al Qaeda leadership along with the Taliban - and it is an especially well known tactic of the Taliban to meet in places full of civilians - they have long used human shields.
There is no mention from the news agencies about who was killed in this operation (other than civilians of course) but I'm guessing that in a few days the word will come out that a MAJOR al Qaeda leader was taken out in this operation. Let's face it...this has the look of a "Mullah Omar Operation" - even with Task Force 88's covert nature, for them to take this risk of a ground operation in a fairly populated area is out there and if any of the reports are true about the civilian deaths, the prize they were after had to be on the level of Mullah Omar.
We're still waiting to hear who was taken out in the most recent air strike by the U.S. in Pakistan and now we wait the identities of these dead jihadists. I'm hoping and praying that the names of the targets, the identities of the dead leaders, will shock even me.
The US military, with the possible cooperation of the Afghan military, may have conducted a special operations air assault across the border into Taliban-controlled South Waziristan on Wednesday, according to unconfirmed reports from Pakistan.
The report later changed when the correspondent claimed the helicopters landed and troops dismounted, who then began searching homes. One witness told The Associated Press that "American and Afghan soldiers starting firing" on one family outside of their home. Soldiers then entered the home and others, and killed 15 people, including women and children. The raid was reported to have occurred in the village of Musa Nikow.
And now, I'll show you why I'm bringing this to you from The Long War Journal and not Reuter's or AP:
The US military command in Afghanistan can plausibly deny its forces were involved in such a raid, as the operation have been carried out by Special Forces teams. Task Force 88, the hunter-killer teams assigned to take down al Qaeda and the Taliban's command structure, does not report to the conventional command in Afghanistan.
A raid of this nature - the insertion of US special operations team inside Pakistani territory - is rare. This would be only the second reported raid of this nature since 2006. Nearly every other attack was conducted by unmanned US Predator aircraft or missile strikes from Afghanistan.
My gut feeling is that this attack did take place by Task Force 88. Remember, Task Force 88 has one mission and that is to hunt down and kill primarily al Qaeda leadership along with the Taliban - and it is an especially well known tactic of the Taliban to meet in places full of civilians - they have long used human shields.
There is no mention from the news agencies about who was killed in this operation (other than civilians of course) but I'm guessing that in a few days the word will come out that a MAJOR al Qaeda leader was taken out in this operation. Let's face it...this has the look of a "Mullah Omar Operation" - even with Task Force 88's covert nature, for them to take this risk of a ground operation in a fairly populated area is out there and if any of the reports are true about the civilian deaths, the prize they were after had to be on the level of Mullah Omar.
We're still waiting to hear who was taken out in the most recent air strike by the U.S. in Pakistan and now we wait the identities of these dead jihadists. I'm hoping and praying that the names of the targets, the identities of the dead leaders, will shock even me.
Pakistanis claim US helicopter-borne forces assaulted village in South Waziristan
The US military, with the possible cooperation of the Afghan military, may have conducted a special operations air assault across the border into Taliban-controlled South Waziristan on Wednesday, according to unconfirmed reports from Pakistan.
The initial report from a Geo TV correspondent indicated the casualties were taken after US helicopters launched missiles at three homes in the Barmal area of Angorada late at night.
The report later changed when the correspondent claimed the helicopters landed and troops dismounted, who then began searching homes. One witness told The Associated Press that "American and Afghan soldiers starting firing" on one family outside of their home. Soldiers then entered the home and others, and killed 15 people, including women and children. The raid was reported to have occurred in the village of Musa Nikow.
The Pakistani military confirmed an attack occurred in the region, AP reported but did not provide details. Two anonymous Pakistani intelligence officials said the attack occurred and claimed 19 were killed. The US military in Afghanistan said its forces were not involved, and the US embassy in Pakistan did not comment.
If confirmed the assault in South Waziristan would be the fourth cross-border attack since Aug. 20 and the 10th confirmed attack this year. Only 10 such strikes were recorded in 2006 and 2007 combined.
Four safe houses have been hit in South Waziristan, three have been hit in North Waziristan, and two have been targeted in Bajaur this year.
Three senior al Qaeda operatives have been killed in this year's strikes. Two Canadians of Arab origin were killed in a strike in strike in South Waziristan last weekend.
Abu Khabab al Masri, al Qaeda's bomb expert and weapons of mass destruction chief, was killed South Waziristan on July 28. Abu Sulayman Jazairi, al Qaeda's external operations chief, was killed in Bajaur on May 14. Abu Laith al Libi, a senior commander in Afghanistan and the leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, was killed in North Waziristan on Jan. 28.
While the strikes have disrupted al Qaeda's senior leadership, they have done little to disrupt the growth of al Qaeda and the Taliban in northwestern Pakistan.
The Taliban, al Qaeda, and allied terrorist groups have established 157 training camps and more than 400 support locations in the tribal areas and the Northwest Frontier Province, US intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal.
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