Pair of U.S. Drone Strikes In North Waziristan Kill Upwards of 14 Taliban/Al Qaeda

A quiet weekend in North Waziristan has now turned not so quiet as U.S. predator drones struck in two parts of North Waziristan, Pakistan killing at leas 14 Taliban and/or al Qaeda jihadists.

From the report at TODAYonline:

Local intelligence officials say a pair of American drone strikes has killed 14 suspected militants in northwestern Pakistan, in the latest attacks against al-Qaida and Taliban militants seeking sanctuary in the region.

The missiles struck an hour apart in the North Waziristan.

In the first strike, one American missile slammed into a house and another hit a vehicle in the town of Ghulam Khan just north of Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, the two officials said. Nine insurgents were killed.

An hour later, another pair of missiles struck a vehicle in the nearby town of Datta Khel, killing five suspected militants, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk to the media. They said all five killed were foreigners.

Now, that's more like it, huh? I am noticing more and more in our predator drone strikes in North Waziristan that we are engaging vehicles and of course, one of the benefits of that is a much higher kill ratio than if we are trying to land a hellfire into a compound or other structure.

You'll notice that in the second strike that all "victims" were designated as foreigners - now, that doesn't necessarily mean they were al Qaeda - they could be more German imports or they could be Uzbeck Taliban.

Let's hope that perhaps we'll have another strike to report by the end of the day and we can keep our weekend averages up - but to get 14 Taliban/Al Qaeda clowns in two strikes is very, very good.

Pakistan: Local intel officials update suspected militant death toll in US missile strikes to 14


PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - Local intelligence officials say a pair of American drone strikes has killed 14 suspected militants in northwestern Pakistan, in the latest attacks against al-Qaida and Taliban militants seeking sanctuary in the region.

The missiles struck an hour apart in the North Waziristan.

In the first strike, one American missile slammed into a house and another hit a vehicle in the town of Ghulam Khan just north of Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, the two officials said. Nine insurgents were killed.

An hour later, another pair of missiles struck a vehicle in the nearby town of Datta Khel, killing five suspected militants, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk to the media. They said all five killed were foreigners.