Oh boy...tell me the CIA isn't just a LITTLE fucking pissed off at the latest attack on U.S. troops in Kabul. For the fifth time in six days, U.S. predator drones have struck in northwestern Pakistan - this time they hit the area of Mir Ali in North Waziristan and left four al Qaeda/Taliban deader than shit.
Good riddance scumbags.
From the report at The Long War Journal:
US Predators struck in Pakistan's tribal areas for the fifth time in six days, killing four "militants" in the Taliban stronghold of North Waziristan.
The unmanned CIA-operated Predators, or the more deadly Reapers, fired several missiles at a vehicle as it was moving in the village of Mubarak Shah in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan, according to SAMAA. The Associated Press reported that four "militants" were killed in the attack
The identities of the four militants killed were not disclosed. No senior Taliban or al Qaeda leaders are reported to have been killed.
Today's strike is the fifth in a recent flurry of attacks. In the past six days, the US has launched three attacks in North Waziristan and two attacks in South Waziristan.
I definitely like this strategy of ours - when the Taliban pull off a major attack in Afghanistan, they see this kind of barrage of predator strikes on their butt buddies down in Pakistan. It's similar to the strategy I've always said works the best for Israel - when a few rockets land in Israel from Gaza, the Israelis target the commanders of Hamas....it's amazing how quickly the rockets get put back in their Gaza warehouses after a few mid level Hamas commanders are on the business end of a JDAM.
US Predator strike kills 4 'militants' in Mir Ali
US Predators struck in Pakistan's tribal areas for the fifth time in six days, killing four "militants" in the Taliban stronghold of North Waziristan.
The unmanned CIA-operated Predators, or the more deadly Reapers, fired several missiles at a vehicle as it was moving in the village of Mubarak Shah in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan, according to SAMAA. The Associated Press reported that four "militants" were killed in the attack
The identities of the four militants killed were not disclosed. No senior Taliban or al Qaeda leaders are reported to have been killed.
Today's strike is the fifth in a recent flurry of attacks. In the past six days, the US has launched three attacks in North Waziristan and two attacks in South Waziristan.
Mir Ali is a terrorist haven
The Mir Ali area is in the sphere of influence of Abu Kasha al Iraqi, an al Qaeda leader who serves as a key link to the Taliban and supports al Qaeda's external operations network. Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadar and the Haqqani Network also operate in the Mir Ali area. Moreover, Mir Ali is a known hub for al Qaeda's military and external operations councils.
Since Sept. 8, 2010, a total of 16 Germans and two Britons have been reported killed in Predator strikes in the Mir Ali area. The Europeans were members of the Islamic Jihad Group, an al Qaeda affiliate based in the vicinity of Mir Ali. The IJG members are believed to have been involved in an al Qaeda plot that targeted several major European cities and was modeled after the terror assault on the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008.
Mir Ali also hosts at least three suicide training camps for the the Fedayeen-i-Islam, an alliance between the Pakistani Taliban, the anti-Shia Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and Jaish-e-Mohammed. Earlier this year, a Fedayeen-i-Islam spokesman claimed that more than 1,000 suicide bombers have trained at three camps. One failed suicide bomber corroborated the Fedayeen spokesman's statement, claiming that more than 350 suicide bombers trained at his camp.
Over the past year, the US has been pounding targets in the Datta Khel, Miramshah, and Mir Ali areas of North Waziristan in an effort to kill members involved in the European plot. Al Qaeda and allied terror groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Islamic Jihad Group, the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Party, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and a number of Pakistani and Central and South Asian terror groups host or share camps in the region. These groups are given aid and shelter by Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadar and the Haqqani Network, a Taliban subgroup run by Siraj and Jalaluddin Haqqani.
Despite the known presence of al Qaeda and other foreign groups in North Waziristan, and requests by the US that action be taken against these groups, the Pakistani military has indicated that it has no plans to take on Hafiz Gul Bahadar or the Haqqani Network. Bahadar and the Haqqanis are considered "good Taliban" by the Pakistani military establishment as they do not carry out attacks inside Pakistan.
The Predator strikes, by the numbers
The US has carried out nine drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas this month, killing several top al Qaeda, Taliban, and Haqqani Network commanders [see LWJ report, 2 senior al Qaeda leaders killed in recent drone strikes in Pakistan].
Over the past year, the pace of the US strikes has been uneven, but the monthly strike totals have generally decreased. From January through September 2011, the strikes in Pakistan were as follows: nine strikes in January, three in February, seven in March, two in April, seven in May, 12 in June, three in July, six in August, and four in September. 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 62 strikes in Pakistan. In 2010, the US carried out 117 strikes, which was more than double 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 in South Waziristan, five were in Khyber, and one was in Kurram.
This year, that pattern has changed, as an increasing number of strikes are taking place in South Waziristan. So far in 2011, 23 of the 62 strikes have taken place in South Waziristan, 38 strikes were in North Waziristan, and one was in Kurram.
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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