And.....we're off to the weekend races! Today in North Waziristan, Pakistan...the CIA commandeered two predator drone strikes on Taliban, Uzbek and Haqqani Network jihadis and the end result is 14 dead bad guys. Yes!
From the story at The Long War Journal:
It doesn't look like the fact that the al Qaeda planned terrorist campaign in Europe was exposed has put the brakes on the assault on North Waziristan which started to disrupt that whole plot planning - two strikes on a Saturday is a good enough signal that things are not letting up for the Taliba and al Qaeda and all of the other fringe networks.
Hopefully, we will see another strike before nightfall and Sunday will bring a carbon copy.
From the story at The Long War Journal:
Unmanned US attack aircraft struck twice in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan today, killing 14 Haqqani Network, Uzbek, and Taliban fighters.
The remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly and capable Reapers first struck in the village of Dashgah in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan. Four missiles were fired at a compound, killing 10, according to SAMAA.
The second strike took place in the village of Inzarkas, a little more than a mile from Dashgah, according to AFP. The Predators or Reapers fired two missiles at a vehicle, killing four. The strike on a vehicle so close to the scene of the first attack indicates that leaders or fighters were fleeing the scene of that attack when they were hit.
The targets of the strikes have not been disclosed, and no senior Taliban or al Qaeda leaders have been reported killed at this time.
Haqqani Network and Uzbek fighters are reported to have been killed in the first attack in Dashgah, according to AFP.
It doesn't look like the fact that the al Qaeda planned terrorist campaign in Europe was exposed has put the brakes on the assault on North Waziristan which started to disrupt that whole plot planning - two strikes on a Saturday is a good enough signal that things are not letting up for the Taliba and al Qaeda and all of the other fringe networks.
Hopefully, we will see another strike before nightfall and Sunday will bring a carbon copy.
US Predators strike twice in North Waziristan
Unmanned US attack aircraft struck twice in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan today, killing 14 Haqqani Network, Uzbek, and Taliban fighters.
The remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly and capable Reapers first struck in the village of Dashgah in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan. Four missiles were fired at a compound, killing 10, according to SAMAA.
The second strike took place in the village of Inzarkas, a little more than a mile from Dashgah, according to AFP. The Predators or Reapers fired two missiles at a vehicle, killing four. The strike on a vehicle so close to the scene of the first attack indicates that leaders or fighters were fleeing the scene of that attack when they were hit.
The targets of the strikes have not been disclosed, and no senior Taliban or al Qaeda leaders have been reported killed at this time.
Haqqani Network and Uzbek fighters are reported to have been killed in the first attack in Dashgah, according to AFP.
Datta Khel is administered by Hafiz Gul Bahadar, the Taliban commander for North Waziristan. Despite the fact that Bahadar and the Haqqani Network shelter al Qaeda and other South and Central Asian terror groups, the Pakistani government and military refuse to take action in North Waziristan. Bahadar and the Haqqanis are viewed as "good Taliban" as they do not attack the Pakistani state.
Datta Khel area is an al Qaeda hub
The Datta Khel region has been targeted intensively by the US, especially in the past several weeks. 12 out of the last 23 strikes have taken place in Datta Khel. The US has conducted 20 airstrikes in the Datta Khel region this year, or 26 percent of its current total of 68 airstrikes in Pakistan in 2010.
Datta Khel is a known hub of Taliban, Haqqani Network, and al Qaeda activity. While Bahadar administers the region, the Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, and allied Central Asian jihadi groups are also based in the area. The Lashkar al Zil, or al Qaeda's Shadow Army, is known to have a command center in Datta Khel.
Some of al Qaeda's top leaders have been targeted and killed in Datta Khel. A strike on Dec. 17, 2009, targeted Sheikh Saeed al Saudi, Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law and a member of al Qaeda's Shura Majlis, or executive council. Al Saudi is thought to have survived the strike, but Abdullah Said al Libi, the commander of the Shadow Army or Lashkar al Zil, and Zuhaib al Zahibi, a general in the Shadow Army, were both killed in the attack.
But the most significant attack in Datta Khel took place on May 21 this year and resulted in the death of Mustafa Abu Yazid, a longtime al Qaeda leader and close confidant of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri.
Yazid served as the leader of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the wider Khorasan, a region that encompasses portions of Pakistan, Iran, and several Central Asian states. More importantly, Yazid was as al Qaeda's top financier, which put him in charge of the terror group's purse strings. He served on al Qaeda's Shura Majlis, or top decision-making council. Yazid also was closely allied with the Taliban and advocated the program of embedding small al Qaeda teams with Taliban forces in Afghanistan.
The US is thought to have killed Sheikh Fateh al Masri, Yazid's replacement as al Qaeda's leader in Afghanistan and Pakistan, in the Sept. 25 strike in Datta Khel. Al Qaeda has not confirmed Fateh's death, however.
In addition to top to the al Qaeda leaders killed in the Predator attacks, the US has killed a Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan commander named Qureshi and eight Germans and two Britons in a strike in Data Khel on Sept. 8 The commander, Qureshi, specialized in training Germans to return to their home country to carry out attacks. The IMU commander and fighters are thought to be linked to a recently exposed plot to carry out Mumbai-like terror assaults in major European cities. The plot is said to have been ordered by Osama bin Laden.
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