I've been waiting ALL week for another air strike inside of Pakistan and today is the day! Yessss! A U.S. predator airstrike of one hellfire missile hit a Taliban safehouse in South Waziristan and killed seven of the bad guys with at least three being identified as "foreigners."
Here's the detals from The Long War Journal:
Now, a couple of things here - first off, all along I have said that the U.S. and NATO are coverning themselves with the government of Pakistan in these strikes by showing that there were al Qaeda involved and this attacking is no different - when the report says "foreigners", that usually means some Arabs and that means al Qaeda that have entered Pakistan to fight side by side with the Taliban. Now, they could be from areas like Chechnya but still, they constitute foreign fighters and it's my belief that the U.S. simply tells Pakistan that they are global terror targets.
The second thing is this - don't jump to conclusions about "no senior leaders have been reported killed in the strike".....there is never any confirmation of this for several days if not a week or so - it seems odd to me that this was reported so quickly. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see more information come out on this strike later.
Here's the detals from The Long War Journal:
The US has attacked a Taliban safe house in the lawless tribal agency of South Waziristan, killing seven, including three "foreigners."
An unmanned Predator aircraft fired at least one Hellfire missile at a Taliban safe house adjacent to a religious school in the town of Azam Warzak. "The missile hit a house adjacent to a madrassa (Islamic seminary)," a Pakistani intelligence official told Reuters. "Seven people are killed. Most of those killed are Punjabis," Pakistanis from the eastern province of Punjab.
No senior leaders have been reported killed in the strike
Now, a couple of things here - first off, all along I have said that the U.S. and NATO are coverning themselves with the government of Pakistan in these strikes by showing that there were al Qaeda involved and this attacking is no different - when the report says "foreigners", that usually means some Arabs and that means al Qaeda that have entered Pakistan to fight side by side with the Taliban. Now, they could be from areas like Chechnya but still, they constitute foreign fighters and it's my belief that the U.S. simply tells Pakistan that they are global terror targets.
The second thing is this - don't jump to conclusions about "no senior leaders have been reported killed in the strike".....there is never any confirmation of this for several days if not a week or so - it seems odd to me that this was reported so quickly. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see more information come out on this strike later.
US strike in South Waziristan kills 7
The US attacks inside Pakistan have tapered off the past six weeks after a high operational tempo in September and October, when strikes into Pakistan averaged two to three a week. Only seven attacks have been recorded in November and the first two weeks of December. The majority of these attacks have been inside North and South Waziristan.
Attacks in the tribal areas have decreased in frequency over the past six weeks as al Qaeda and the Taliban have taken additional security precautions, a senior US military intelligence official told The Long War Journal. "They have either gone to ground or are limiting their movements and meetings to reduce their visibility," the official said.
There have been 34 recorded cross-border attacks and attempts in Pakistan this year, according to numbers compiled by The Long War Journal. Twenty-seven of these attacks took place since Aug. 31. There were only 10 recorded strikes during 2006 and 2007 combined.
The strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas have disrupted al Qaeda and the Taliban's operations, but will not dislodge the groups from power in the region.
The US campaign in Pakistan is aimed at disrupting al Qaeda's ability to attack the West, US intelligence officials told The Long War Journal on Sept. 19.
US intelligence believes the next attack launched against the West will originate from Pakistan's tribal areas, where al Qaeda operates 157 known training camps, intelligence officials told The Long War Journal in August.
The US strikes inside Pakistan's tribal areas have killed five senior al Qaeda leaders this year. All of the leaders were involved in supporting al Qaeda's external operations directed at the West.
Abu Laith al Libi, a senior military commander in Afghanistan, was killed in a strike in North Waziristan in January. Abu Sulayman Jazairi, al Qaeda’s external operations chief, was killed in a strike in Bajaur in March. Abu Khabab al Masri, al Qaeda's weapons of mass destruction chief, and several senior members of his staff were killed in a strike in South Waziristan in July. Khalid Habib, the leader of al Qaeda's paramilitary forces in the tribal Ares, was killed in North Waziristan in October. Abu Jihad al Masri, the leader of the Egyptian Islamic Group and member of al Qaeda's top council, was also killed in North Waziristan this October.
Two other senior al Qaeda leaders are rumored to have been killed, but their deaths have not been confirmed.
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