It's been awhile since the last predator drone strike in North Waziristan but today the streak of inactivity was ended with seven Taliban (probably Haqqani Network) ending their Ramadan fast early.
From the report at The Long War Journal:
The unmanned, CIA-operated Predators and Reapers fired a pair of missiles at a compound and vehicle in the Miramshah area of North Waziristan today. Seven "militants" were killed in the attack, the first of its kind in Pakistan's tribal areas in six days.
"At least seven militants were killed in the drone strike," a Pakistani security official told AFP. "All of them were Haqqani's men." Three other fighters were said to be wounded in the strike.
The Miramshah area is controlled by the Haqqani Network, a powerful Taliban group that is a favorite proxy of Pakistan's military and intelligence services and is also closely allied to al Qaeda. The Haqqani Network shelters and supports al Qaeda, and launches attacks against Coalition and Afghan forces across the border.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the operational commander of the Haqqani Network, is a member of al Qaeda's Shura Majlis as well as the Taliban's Quetta Shura. The US government has put a $5 million bounty out for Siraj and has placed him on the list of specially designated global terrorists. Two of Siraj's brothers, Nasirruddin and Badruddin, and his uncle, Khalil, have also been added to the US' list of designated terrorists, for their activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as their support for al Qaeda.
You can see from the above what a prime target the Haqqani Network personnel have become so hopefully, these weren't just seven of their "boys." It would be nice to see some of the tactics that used to be employed by the Israelis used here - the Israelis, when under heavy attacks by Hamas, would simply target mid and high level Hamas commanders and leaders for extermination and after two or three of those types were taken out, it was amazing how quickly the attacks would subside.
US Predators kill 7 Haqqani fighters in North Waziristan
The unmanned, CIA-operated Predators and Reapers fired a pair of missiles at a compound and vehicle in the Miramshah area of North Waziristan today. Seven "militants" were killed in the attack, the first of its kind in Pakistan's tribal areas in six days.
"At least seven militants were killed in the drone strike," a Pakistani security official told AFP. "All of them were Haqqani's men." Three other fighters were said to be wounded in the strike.
The Miramshah area is controlled by the Haqqani Network, a powerful Taliban group that is a favorite proxy of Pakistan's military and intelligence services and is also closely allied to al Qaeda. The Haqqani Network shelters and supports al Qaeda, and launches attacks against Coalition and Afghan forces across the border.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the operational commander of the Haqqani Network, is a member of al Qaeda's Shura Majlis as well as the Taliban's Quetta Shura. The US government has put a $5 million bounty out for Siraj and has placed him on the list of specially designated global terrorists. Two of Siraj's brothers, Nasirruddin and Badruddin, and his uncle, Khalil, have also been added to the US' list of designated terrorists, for their activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as their support for al Qaeda.
In North Waziristan, the Haqqanis control large swaths of the tribal area and run a parallel administration with courts, recruiting centers, tax offices, and security forces. In addition, the Haqqanis have established multiple training camps and safe houses used by al Qaeda leaders and operatives, as well as by Taliban foot soldiers preparing to fight in Afghanistan. The Pakistani military has refused to move against Siraj and the Haqqani Network, despite his support for al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban. The Haqqanis are viewed by the Pakistani military as both a strategic asset against India and as Pakistan's prime conduit for influence in Afghanistan.
The Predator strikes, by the numbers
Today's strike is the third in Pakistan's tribal areas this month, and the first in six days. The last strike, on Aug. 2, also took place near Miramshah.
From January through June 2011, the strikes in Pakistan were as follows: nine strikes in January, three strikes in February, seven in March, two in April, seven in May, 12 in June, and three in July. In the last four months of 2010, the US averaged almost 16 strikes per month (21 in September, 16 in October, 14 in November, and 12 in December).
So far this year, the US has carried out 46 strikes in Pakistan, and is well off the pace of the 117 attacks that took place in 2010. In 2010, the US more than doubled the number of strikes that had occurred in 2009; by late August 2010, the US had exceeded 2009's strike total of 53 with a strike in Kurram. In 2008, the US carried out a total of 36 strikes inside Pakistan. [For up-to-date charts on the US air campaign in Pakistan, see LWJ Special Report, Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2011.]
In 2010 the strikes were concentrated almost exclusively in North Waziristan, where the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, the Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, and a host of Pakistani and Central and South Asian terror groups are based. All but 13 of the 117 strikes took place North Waziristan. Of the 13 strikes occurring outside of North Waziristan in 2010, seven were executed in South Waziristan, five were in Khyber, and one was in Kurram. This year, an increasing number of strikes are taking place in South Waziristan. So far in 2011, 29 of the 46 strikes have taken place in North Waziristan, 16 strikes have occurred in South Waziristan, and one took place in Kurram.
Since Sept. 1, 2010, the US has conducted 107 strikes in Pakistan's tribal agencies. The bulk of those attacks have aimed at the terror groups in North Waziristan, with 83 strikes in the tribal agency. Many of the strikes have targeted cells run by the Islamic Jihad Group, which have been plotting to conduct Mumbai-styled terror assaults in Europe. A Sept. 8 strike killed an IJG commander known as Qureshi, who specialized in training Germans to conduct attacks in their home country.
The US campaign in northwestern Pakistan has targeted top al Qaeda leaders, al Qaeda's external operations network, and Taliban leaders and fighters who threaten both the Afghan and Pakistani states as well as support al Qaeda's external operations. The campaign has been largely successful in focusing on terrorist targets and avoiding civilian casualties, as recently affirmed by the Pakistani military.
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