Five Taliban, Including Key Commander, Killed in Pakistan's Khyber Agency But No One Will Take Credit

 The Taliban commander killed in the operation was identified as Jangraiz, according to intelligence sources. — File photo



Even the Pakistani government and military are too chicken to claim that a security operation killed a key Taliban commander in Khyber today.


The story comes from DAWN.

At least five suspected militants killed in Darra Adam Khel



PESHAWAR: At least five suspected militants, including a key commander, belonging to the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Darra Adam Khel area on Sunday.

Intelligence sources said that five militant were killed in Darra Adam Khels border area with Frontier Region of Peshawar adding that further details regarding the incident were not available.

The Taliban commander killed was identified as Jangraiz, according to intelligence sources.

Police sources were yet to confirm the incident and claimed to be unaware of any operations conducted in the area. after initial media reports had claimed that the five suspected militants were killed in an operation conducted by security forces.

Pakistani Taliban Bomb Security Forces Convoy, 22 Dead Including 20 Security Personnel

 Emergency and security forces rushed to the attack site. —Photo by Zahir Shah Sheraz

The bombings are so frequent, the bloodshed so commonplace in Pakistan right now the Prime Minister doesn't even dare leave the country for a scheduled visit to Switzerland.

The world had a chance to eradicate the Taliban about 7 years ago and refused to....one of mankind's big mistakes.

The story comes from DAWN.

Explosion kills 22 in Bannu; TTP claims attack


PESHAWAR: A bombing, targeting a security forces convoy, killed 22 people and injured 38 others near Razmak gate in Cantt area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Bannu district on Sunday. The Pakistani Taliban claimed the attack.

An ISPR spokesman said that in the attack, 20 security personnel were killed and 30 were injured.

Speaking to CNN, Shahidullah Shahid, spokesman for the proscribed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed that the militant organisation was responsible for the attack and said that their attacks on security forces would continue.

On the other hand, intelligence sources say that a convoy, comprising military and civilian vehicles, was ready to move towards Miramshah in the North Waziristan tribal region from a ground near Razmak Gate in Cantt area of Bannu when the explosion occurred in one of the coaches.

The sources added that the explosives were planted in one of the vehicles hired from a private party.

Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan condemning the incident has sought a report from the Inspector General of Frontier Corps with the details related to the hiring of the private vehicles for transportation.

Emergency and security forces reached the attack site and shifted the victims to a nearby hospital. Those killed in the attack included civilians and security forces personnel. Security and rescue sources said 18 personnel and four civilians were among the dead.

Moreover, security forces cordoned off the area as a probe into the incident went underway.

Within hours of the attack, the TTP spokesman said that the Taliban were ready for meaningful dialogue, however, the government should show its sincerity.

The northwestern town of Bannu, which stands at the gateway to the semi-autonomous Waziristan tribal region, is 150 kilometres southwest of Peshawar, the capital of KP.

The town has witnessed a number of attacks and was the scene of a massive jail break in April 2012 during which 384 prisoners escaped from its central prison.

Pakistan Unleashes Air Force On Taliban In Khyber, At Least 10 Jihadis Dead

It's been a helluva long time since the Pakistani air force took to the air above Pakistan to hunt some Taliban but today was worth it as up to 10 of the terrorist Taliban were snuffed out in their hideouts in the Khyber area.

The story comes from DAWN.

At least ten suspected militants killed as Pakistan air force strikes hideouts


PESHAWAR: At least ten suspected militants were killed and 12 others injured as Pakistani jet fighters targeted nine militants hideouts in Khyber tribal region and Darra Adam Khel.

Official sources say that the jet fighters struck the militants hideous in Akakhel area of Bara Tehsil in Khyber tribal region destroying at least three of their secret bases while five alleged militants were killed and six others injured.

Separately in other strikes carried out by the military jets in Kharmatong, Mansoor Sangar, Zawao Adda and Khawngai area of Dara Adam Khel region, six militants hideouts were destroyed.

The death toll could not be independently verified as access of media is restricted in the region.

Pakistani military officials believe mountains linking the Orakzai, Khyber and Kurram tribal areas are one of the main strongholds for the Taliban-linked militants in Pakistan.

Another senior military official in the northwestern frontier city of Peshawar confirmed that air strikes had taken place “somewhere between Orakzai and Khyber”.

Many Taliban and their al Qaeda allies fled Afghanistan to Pakistan's tribal areas after the US invasion in 2001.

They retreated even deeper into the mountains following a Pakistan army offensive in 2009, launching attacks from places where ground forces cannot reach them.

In another unrelated incident a FC vehicle met with an accident in Charsadda area of Khyber Pahktunkhwa killing one FC person and injuring 24 others.

The victims were rushed to a nearby hospital.

35 militants, 1 soldier killed in Pakistan clashes - Operation To Flush Out Taliban From Khyber

A big day for Pakistani military forces as they are being reported to have killed 35 Taliban fighters in the NW agency of Khyber.

Think about it - 35 less Taliban walking the earth from now on.  Thought I'd just give you a little smile for the day.

The story comes from Times of India.

35 militants, 1 soldier killed in Pakistan clashes


ISLAMABAD: Thirty-five militants and a soldier have died in fighting in the restive Khyber tribal region of northwest Pakistan during an operation to flush out rebels, the military said today.


Five soldiers and 15 militants were also injured in clashes over the past two days, the Inter-Services Public Relations said in a brief statement.

Security forces had made "significant gains" over the past three days and cleared key areas of the Maidan region of Khyber Agency.

Troops have also taken "full control" of the strategic Derastani Ridge that overlooks Maidan and Kuki Khel Valley, the statement said.

The operation in the Maidan region was launched after troops cleared Muhammadi Top in Kurram Agency and Haider Kandao in Tirah Valley of Khyber Aegncy.

Security forces also flushed militants out of the heights of Darwazgai Kandao.

The military offensive in Khyber Agency was launched some weeks ago after dozens of Pakistani Taliban fighters entered the tribal district and occupied key areas.

The latest reports of casualties could not be independently verified as journalists are barred from the tribal belt.

Taliban Suicide Attack On Chief Minister of Khyber Province Fails Today

The Chief Minister of Khyber province in Pakistan came under suicide attack by the Taliban today but survived the attempt on his convoy.

A chief minister in Pakistan is the head of the government of a province of the country - pretty much like a governor of a state in America.

From the article at DAWN:

Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ameer Haider Khan Hoti remained unhurt in a suicide attack that targeted his convoy in Mardan on Friday, DawnNews reported.

All other members of the chief minister’s convoy also remained unhurt in the blast that took place outside the Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan.

The attack occurred when the provincial chief minister was on its way to attend a meeting.

The attack on the senior Awami National Party (ANP) leader comes nearly two months after the killing of Bashir Ahmed Bilour in a suicide bomb explosion in Peshawar.

As you can see from the article, there's also word that the Taliban have rejected any offers of peace agreements in Pakistan and why shouldn't they?  The Taliban have the world by the tail right now in Pakistan - they have a Pakistani government and military unwilling to actually try to root them out of the country and in just a matter of months they will have free reign in the neighboring country of Afghanistan.

It's my estimation that the Taliban are presently assessing just how much of northwestern Pakistan they can annex into their new country of Afghanistan when they topple the Karzai government.

CM Hoti escapes suicide attack in Mardan

PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ameer Haider Khan Hoti remained unhurt in a suicide attack that targeted his convoy in Mardan on Friday, DawnNews reported.

All other members of the chief minister’s convoy also remained unhurt in the blast that took place outside the Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan.

The attack occurred when the provincial chief minister was on its way to attend a meeting.

The attack on the senior Awami National Party (ANP) leader comes nearly two months after the killing of Bashir Ahmed Bilour in a suicide bomb explosion in Peshawar.

The attack that killed Bilour was claimed by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The ANP, which has been a continual target of militant groups operating in northwest Pakistan, also recently convened an all parties’ conference for developing a consensus on countering militancy in the country.

However, today the Pakistani Taliban rejected the offer of peace talks that had come out of the ANP-led conference.

“The Taliban are still waiting for a serious and meaningful response to peace talks offer from the Pakistani government and the military,” TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told Dawn.com.

Taliban/Al Qaeda Set Off Car Bomb In Khyber, Pakistan....17 Killed Including Women and Children

The story comes from DAWN.

Car bomb kills 17 in Khyber agency


JAMRUD: A car bomb killed 17 people including women and children and wounded dozens more when it exploded near a bus queue at a market in northwest Pakistan’s Khyber agency on Monday, officials said.

The bomb went off in the town of Jamrud, killing or wounding people waiting for buses to take them across the northwest and to other parts of the country, according to officials.

Pools of blood and charred flesh littered the roadside, along with at least 20 burnt vehicles, said an AFP reporter. Clothes, school books, children’s shoes and burqas lay everywhere.

Khyber is part of Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal belt on the Afghan border. The Taliban and other al Qaeda-linked groups, who stage attacks in both countries, are known to have strongholds in the zone.

A district administration office was around 100 metres from where the bomb was detonated but was not damaged in the attack, according to an AFP reporter.

“Seventeen people were killed in the blast. Fourteen bodies were brought to our hospital while three people succumbed to their wounds on their way to Hayatabad Medical Complex in Peshawar,” said Doctor Sameen Jan Shinwari at the Agency Headquarters hospital in Jamrud.

“Four women were among those killed in the blast and they were all Afghans. These women were coming from the border in a hired car, which was completely destroyed. These women’s Afghan passports were found in a bag,” said Shinwari.

He said a five-year-old Afghan girl accompanying the women and two six-year-old Pakistani boys were also among those killed.

Khyber’s top administrative official, Mutahir Zeb, played down the idea that the government office was the intended target, but said authorities were still investigating.

“We are still are ascertaining what procedure exactly was used to blow up the vehicle,” he said.

Two intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the explosives had been packed into a Suzuki Alto vehicle.

Driver Taj Muhammad, 40, said he was entering Jamrud when he heard the explosion and saw a ball of fire.

“I rushed to the site and saw people engulfed by flames. There were pieces of human flesh and blood everywhere. I saw a little child who was injured and crying. I took this boy to hospital,” he told AFP.

“When I picked up the injured boy he looked like my son and I was really so sad.”

Pakistan suffers frequent bomb and suicide attacks blamed on extremist militant groups. Pakistani troops have for years been fighting homegrown armed groups in the tribal belt.

On Saturday a suicide squad of five targeted the airport in Peshawar, the main northwestern city close to Jamrud, killing five civilians and blowing a hole in the perimeter wall.

The assault, claimed by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), sparked prolonged gunfire and forced authorities to close the airport, a commercial hub and air force base on the edge of the tribal belt.

It was the second militant attack in four months on a military air base in nuclear-armed Pakistan.

On Sunday a policeman and five militants were killed following gunbattles between security forces and militants suspected of having been involved in the airport attack, security officials said.

The government says more than 35,000 people have died due to terrorism in the country since the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

There has, however, been a decline in the number and severity of attacks since 2009, when the Pakistan army fought major operations against local Taliban in the northwestern district of Swat and the tribal district of South Waziristan.

According to an AFP tally there have been more than 100 bombings, killing 550 people, so far this year, compared to 203 in 2009 when the death toll was tallied at 1,840.

Jihadi Feud In Pakistan Heats Up As Taliban Bomber Hits Lashkar-e-Islam Mosque, 5 Dead So Far

In the Khyber agency of Pakistan, there's a lot going on...and it's not just the Pakistani military trying to kill jihadis...the jihadis are fighting between themselves for power as the Taliban group in Khyber has faced off with another islamic terror group, Lashkar-e-Islam and today, the Taliban drew some more blood when one of their suicide bombers hit a Lashkar-e-Islam mosque killing five people.

From the report at The Long War Journal:

A powerful commander of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan claimed credit for a suicide bombing at a mosque run by a rival terror group in the contested tribal agency of Khyber today, killing five people.

The suicide bomber detonated his explosives outside of a Lashkar-e-Islam mosque in the Tirah Valley in Khyber, killing three militants and two civilians, and wounding nine other people, according to AFP. A spokesman for the Lashkar-e-Islam blamed the Taliban for the attack.

Mohammed Afridi, a spokesman for Taliban commander Tariq Afridi, told The Associated Press that his factions carried out the attack. Tariq Afridi, the powerful Taliban commander based in Darra Adam Khel, has taken control of Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan's operations in Khyber.

Today's attack is the second carried out by the Taliban outside a mosque in the Tirah Valley this month. On March 2, a suicide bomber killed 22 people outside another Lashkar-e-Islam mosque. The Taliban claimed credit for the suicide attack, and said it was carried out to avenge the deaths of several Taliban fighters at the hands of the Lashkar-e-Islam last month.

The Lashkar-e-Islam occasionally allies with the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, and occasionally feuds with the terror group. Lashkar-e-Islam has also clashed with the Pakistani military and the government-backed Zakhakhel tribe, which has allied with the Ansur-ul-Islam, a banned terrorist group. The military has recently claimed it drove the Lashkar-e-Islam from the Tirah Valley, but the group still has a strong presence there.

I'd like to point out to all of the cut-and-runners that want our American troops out of Afghanistan that these are the clowns that we will leave the entire region to when we leave that huge vacuum. These groups are nothing but conglomerations of psychotic mass murderers who have found jussssst enough comradery to hold things together but in the end...it's the blood letting that must be achieved.

Why Pakistan's government doesn't simply wipe these miscreants off the globe is beyond me.

Taliban suicide bomber targets Lashkar-e-Islam mosque, kills 5


A powerful commander of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan claimed credit for a suicide bombing at a mosque run by a rival terror group in the contested tribal agency of Khyber today, killing five people.

The suicide bomber detonated his explosives outside of a Lashkar-e-Islam mosque in the Tirah Valley in Khyber, killing three militants and two civilians, and wounding nine other people, according to AFP. A spokesman for the Lashkar-e-Islam blamed the Taliban for the attack.

Mohammed Afridi, a spokesman for Taliban commander Tariq Afridi, told The Associated Press that his factions carried out the attack. Tariq Afridi, the powerful Taliban commander based in Darra Adam Khel, has taken control of Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan's operations in Khyber.

Today's attack is the second carried out by the Taliban outside a mosque in the Tirah Valley this month. On March 2, a suicide bomber killed 22 people outside another Lashkar-e-Islam mosque. The Taliban claimed credit for the suicide attack, and said it was carried out to avenge the deaths of several Taliban fighters at the hands of the Lashkar-e-Islam last month.

The Lashkar-e-Islam occasionally allies with the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, and occasionally feuds with the terror group. Lashkar-e-Islam has also clashed with the Pakistani military and the government-backed Zakhakhel tribe, which has allied with the Ansur-ul-Islam, a banned terrorist group. The military has recently claimed it drove the Lashkar-e-Islam from the Tirah Valley, but the group still has a strong presence there.

Pakistani officials claimed that they killed Mangal Bagh, the head of the Lashkar-e-Islam, during a six-day-long operation earlier this month [for more information on Mangal Bagh, see LWJ report, A profile of Mangal Bagh]. The report has not been confirmed, however, and Bagh's spokesman denied that the leader had been killed.

The Lashkar-e-Islam has established its own Taliban-like government in large areas of the tribal agency, including Bara, Jamrud, and the Tirah Valley. The group provides recruits to battle US and Afghan forces across the border, and has attacked NATO's vital supply line which moved through Khyber before it was shut down by the Pakistani government in November 2011. The Pakistani military has targeted the Lashkar-e-Islam during multiple operations since 2008, but has failed to dislodge the group from power.

The Tirah Valley is a known haven for the Taliban, the Lashkar-e-Islam, al Qaeda, and other Pakistani terror groups. These safe havens enable these terror groups to launch attacks inside Pakistan as well across the border in Nangarhar province in Afghanistan. In December 2010, the US killed Ibn Amin, a dual-hatted Taliban and al Qaeda military commander who operated in the Swat Valley, in a drone strike in the Tirah Valley. The Lashkar-e-Islam avenged his death by executing suspected four of its members who were thought to have betrayed Amin.

Taliban Kill 4 Pakistani Troops In Khyber Ambush

“The militants opened fire at the convoy when it passed from the area and killed four security persons,” Rehan Gul Khattak, a local administration official said. – File Photo by Reuters

The Taliban have struck blood on the Pakistani military again - this time in an ambush as a Pakistani army convoy was in the Khyber area of the northwest...four Pakistani troops were killed in the attack while apparently the Taliban took no casualties.

It seems to me that the Pakistani military is just putting off what will eventually have to be another full scale operation across northwestern Pakistan - all of the gutting they did a year and a half ago has been filled back in by the scumbags and a couple of agencies are probably worse now than they were. At the same time, the number of Taliban and al Qaeda attacks inside of Pakistan seems to have dropped over the past few months - I attribute that to more operations going on in Afghanistan.

The article is from DAWN.

Four soldiers killed by militants in Khyber


PESHAWAR: Four Pakistani paramilitary soldiers were killed on Monday when militants attacked their convoy in the northwestern tribal district of Khyber, officials said.

The attackers opened fire on the paramilitary convoy in the Nala area, five kilometres (three miles) west of Bara, the district headquarters of Khyber.

“The militants opened fire at the convoy when it passed from the area and killed four security persons,” Rehan Gul Khattak, a local administration official told AFP.

“The security forces fired back but the militants managed to escape,” he said.

Some 18,000 people fled their homes in Khyber last month amid fears of a fresh onslaught of fighting between the army and Islamist militants tied to the Pakistani Taliban.

In the neighbouring district of Mohmand, security forces said they killed four militants and wounded five others who were later arrested, as the group tried to enter Pakistan from across the unmarked border in Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s seven tribal districts near the Afghan border are rife with homegrown insurgents and are strongholds of Taliban and al Qaeda operatives.

“Those who have been arrested were injured during the exchange of fire as the militants attacked Pakistan forces and they retaliated,” said Maqsood Hassan, a local administration official.

Security officials in Peshawar confirmed both incidents.

Taliban Ambush Pakistani Army Patrol, 14 Pakistani Troops Killed

This was a heavy loss for the Pakistani army as a patrol of their was ambushed by Taliban in Khyber agency - the end result of the ambush was 14 troops killed including their commander.

Khyber is one of those areas that is supposed to have been controlled by now...but what we are seeing is some movement by the Taliban between some of the provinces and agencies, depending on where the heat is being applied by the Pakistani military.

Here's the story from DAWN.

Fourteen troops killed in Khyber Agency ambush


PESHAWAR: Pakistan security forces suffered heavy causalities on Monday night when 14 of their soldiers were killed during a militants’ ambush in the Khyber Agency, DawnNews reported.

Official sources said that the militants attacked security forces in the area of Akakhel and 14 soldiers, including a captain and colonel, died when a mortar shell landed near them.

Security forces had been conducting an operation in the area for the past several days and had arrested a number of rebels, sources added.

Holy Hellfire! Three New U.S. Drone Strikes Kill 24 Taliban In Pakistan's Khyber Agency

Just yesterday, after the first predator drone strike by the U.S. in Pakistan's Khyber agency in over six years, I thought it was simply an isolated strike on perhaps a high value target - well, let me be the first to admit that I was wrong - it is obvious now, after three more separate strikes in Khyber today that the predator drone reach in Pakistan has been widened. And today's strikes brought about a HUGE death toll of Taliban....24 of the mutts are lifeless as we speak.

From the report at Reuters via Breitbart:

The United States has widened drone attacks in Pakistan this year, but almost all of them have been in the North Waziristan tribal region, a known sanctuary for al Qaeda and Taliban militants. Attacks in Khyber are not very frequent.

Khyber agency is home to Lashkar-e-Islami, a militant organization sometimes allied with the Pakistani Taliban, but which has often clashed with other groups.

The attacks Friday in Tirah valley occurred within hours of each other. "We have initial reports of some 24 suspected militants killed in three attacks today," one intelligence official in the region said.

Another intelligence official confirmed the figure, saying four suspected militants were killed in the third attack.

I remarked yesterday how getting seven jihadis in that drone strike was a huge toll - well, with 24 biting the dust today, that's an average of EIGHT dead per strike but we see the report that one killed four so one of those strikes may have killed up to 12 Taliban - that is amazing!

This is simply huge news in that you can almost tell that our predator drones have found the Taliban in an area where they are taking no precautions whatsoever...grouping up like a school of fish in a barrel. I suspect the word is gonna get around Talibanland that it's not a good time for a Taliban meet and greet at Muhammad's mud hut this weekend but hey, you never know...this might just be the highest death toll weekend in UAV history.

Drone strikes kill 24 in Pakistan, fourth in two days


(Reuters) - Three suspected U.S. drone missile strikes killed 24 militants Friday in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber region on the Afghan border, intelligence officials said, the fourth attack in two days.

The United States has widened drone attacks in Pakistan this year, but almost all of them have been in the North Waziristan tribal region, a known sanctuary for al Qaeda and Taliban militants. Attacks in Khyber are not very frequent.

Khyber agency is home to Lashkar-e-Islami, a militant organization sometimes allied with the Pakistani Taliban, but which has often clashed with other groups.

The attacks Friday in Tirah valley occurred within hours of each other. "We have initial reports of some 24 suspected militants killed in three attacks today," one intelligence official in the region said.

Another intelligence official confirmed the figure, saying four suspected militants were killed in the third attack.

It could not be immediately verified from independent sources if all the dead were militants, who often dismiss official death toll in such attacks.

A similar strike the day before killed seven suspected militants in the same region.

Pilotless U.S. drones have been attacking al Qaeda and Taliban militants for the past few years in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas on the Afghan border, but there have been a surge in these strikes this year.

Analysts expect the drone strikes to continue and even increase after the Obama administration Thursday unveiled its year-old strategy in Afghanistan, where U.S.-led NATO troops are fighting a raging Taliban insurgency.

A five-page unclassified summary of the White House review noted substantial but "uneven" progress in its ties with Islamabad over the last year, emphasizing greater cooperation with Pakistan to eliminate safe havens in its border areas.

The United States says Pakistan must crack down harder on militants along the border who cross into Afghanistan and attack U.S.-led troops fighting the Taliban.

As it fights Islamist militants, Pakistan has also been bracing for sectarian violence during Moharram, the holiest month for Shi'ite Muslims, which is under way.

Government officials alleged that militants fired mortar shells and struck two houses in the northwestern town of Hangu, killing nine people, including two children and a woman. The region is often a site of sectarian strife.

Tens of thousands of paramilitary and police forces were deployed across the country Friday to guard Shi'ite rallies on Ashura, the climax of Moharram and the biggest event in their calendar.

On Ashura, Shi'ite Muslims beat and cut themselves during processions to mark the anniversary of death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammad. Sunni militant groups have often attacked Shi'ite gatherings during this period.

U.S. Predator Drone Rocks Pakistan's Khyber Agency, 7 Taliban Jihadis Dead As Doornails

The U.S. struck the Khyber agency in Pakistan today and in the process ended the miserable pathetic lives of 7 Taliban. What makes this strike so unusual is the location - only once previously in nearly six year has the tribal agency of Khyber been hit.

From the article at The Long War Journal:

US Predators killed seven Taliban fighters in Pakistan's Khyber tribal agency today. The strike is the first outside of North Waziristan since late September.

Unmanned Predator strike aircraft, or the more deadly Reapers, fired missiles at a vehicle traveling in the Tirah Valley in Khyber, according to AFP. The seven Taliban fighters who were killed were said to be from South Waziristan and Swat. No senior al Qaeda or Taliban leaders have been reported killed in the strike.

Today's strike is just the second in Khyber since the US began its air campaign in 2004. On May 15, 2010, Predators fired at truckloads of jihadists in the Tirah Valley, killing 15 fighters.

Khyber has become a hub of Taliban and al Qaeda activity since the Pakistani military launched an operation in the Mehsud tribal areas in South Waziristan in October 2009. Taliban forces have relocated to the Bara and Jamrud regions and the Tirah Valley in the Khyber agency [see LWJ report, Taliban escape South Waziristan operation].

As you can see, Khyber is certainly a target rich environment for our drones but the fact of the matter it is definitely out of the norm for us to hit this area. So, I think this means one of two things. Either we had some urgent intel on some very, very important and key targets in Khyber that we wanted to snuff out or this is going to be a start of a shift to include Khyber in the normal operations of the drone program.

It's my gut feeling that we got a tip on this one. First of all, killing seven Taliban at once with hellfires is a large number - that tells me that whoever might have been in this group had protection with him. And I don't really see why a shift to Khyber by the CIA would happen now - let's face it, North Waziristan, which we have been hitting since September, is still chock full of Taliban and al Qaeda so why all of a sudden go the extra mile to Khyber.

One other theory I have is this - as you may know, Khyber has been the site of many sabotage attacks on NATO supply convoys up into Afghanistan...I'm wondering if we didn't get a tip on the dude that has been coordinating those attacks.

I guess we'll have to just wait and see who we got in this one but damn, it's fun, ain't it?

US Predators kill 7 Taliban fighters in Khyber


US Predators killed seven Taliban fighters in Pakistan's Khyber tribal agency today. The strike is the first outside of North Waziristan since late September.

Unmanned Predator strike aircraft, or the more deadly Reapers, fired missiles at a vehicle traveling in the Tirah Valley in Khyber, according to AFP. The seven Taliban fighters who were killed were said to be from South Waziristan and Swat. No senior al Qaeda or Taliban leaders have been reported killed in the strike.

Today's strike is just the second in Khyber since the US began its air campaign in 2004. On May 15, 2010, Predators fired at truckloads of jihadists in the Tirah Valley, killing 15 fighters.

Khyber agency is a terrorist haven

Khyber has become a hub of Taliban and al Qaeda activity since the Pakistani military launched an operation in the Mehsud tribal areas in South Waziristan in October 2009. Taliban forces have relocated to the Bara and Jamrud regions and the Tirah Valley in the Khyber agency [see LWJ report, Taliban escape South Waziristan operation].

Tariq Afridi, a powerful Taliban commander based in Darra Adam Khel, has taken control of Taliban operations in Khyber. The Taliban and Lashkar-e-Islam, a local Taliban ally commanded by Mangal Bagh, have gained power in Khyber despite a series of Pakistani military operations that began in the summer of 2007 which were supposedly designed to relieve Taliban pressure on neighboring Peshawar. A total of five military offensives have failed to dislodge the terror groups.

Both the Taliban and the Lashkar-e-Islam are known to operate bases and training camps in the Tirah Valley as well as in Bara and Jamrud. These safe havens in Khyber enable these terror groups to launch attacks inside Pakistan as well across the border in Nangarhar province in Afghanistan. In November 2008, the US military attacked Taliban forces in the Tirah Valley after they retreated across the border from Nangarhar in Afghanistan. US strike aircraft and artillery killed seven Taliban fighters during the hot pursuit.

The Khyber Pass is NATO's main conduit for supplies into Afghanistan; an estimated 70 percent of NATO's supplies move through this strategic crossing point. Between September 2007 and April 2008, the Khyber Pass was shut down seven times due to Taliban attacks.

The Predator strikes, by the numbers

The pace of the Predator strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas has slowed over the past two weeks. Today's strike is just the fourth US attack in Pakistan this month.

The pace of the strikes from the beginning of September up to the end of November was unprecedented since the US began the air campaign in Pakistan in 2004. September's record number of 21 strikes was followed by 16 strikes in October and 14 more in November. The previous monthly high was 11 strikes in January 2010, after the Taliban and al Qaeda executed a successful suicide attack at Combat Outpost Chapman that targeted CIA personnel who were active in gathering intelligence for the Predator campaign in Pakistan. In the bombing at COP Chapman, seven CIA officials and a Jordanian intelligence officer were killed.

The US has carried out 109 attacks inside Pakistan this year, more than doubling last year's number of strikes. In late August, the US exceeded last year'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 - 2010.]

This year the strikes have been confined almost exclusively to North Waziristan. All but 10 of this year's 109 strikes have taken place in that tribal agency. Of the 10 strikes that have occurred outside of North Waziristan, seven took place in South Waziristan, two occurred in Khyber, and one took place in Kurram.

The last strike that occurred outside of North Waziristan was on Sept. 28, when four "militants" were killed on a strike on a compound in the village of Zeba near Wana in South Waziristan.

Since Sept. 1, the US has ramped up airstrikes against the terror groups in North Waziristan, with 52 strikes in the tribal agency. Many of the strikes 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 IJU 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. [For a list of al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in the US air campaign in Pakistan, see LWJ Special Report, Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2010.]

"Predator Monday" Holds True to Form as U.S. Drones Hit Taliban in Khyber, Between 5 and 15 Taliban Killed

Not wanting to disappoint the ever growing fan club of Monday morning predator drone strikes in NW Pakistan, the U.S. had a pair of drones venture for the first time into Pakistan's Khyber Agency and do some real dirty work on a Taliban compound and vehicle loaded with Taliwhackers - the end result was something like 5 to 15 Taliban killed.

From the report at The Long War Journal:

US Predators fired missiles a Taliban compound and a vehicle today in the first recorded airstrike in Pakistan's Khyber tribal agency.

The unmanned Predators or the more deadly Reapers attacked a home "and two trucks loaded with militants" in Khyber, Pakistan's gateway to Afghanistan, The Associated Press reported.

Between five and 15 Taliban fighters were reported killed in the attack, which took place in the Tirah Valley. The target of the attack is not clear, and no senior Taliban or al Qaeda leaders or operatives have been reported killed.

The attack is the first in Khyber since the first US airstrike was recorded in 2004. Most of the attacks have focused on North and South Waziristan. The 135 recorded strikes in Pakistan's northwest are distributed as follows: 81 in North Waziristan, 43 in South Waziristan, three in Bajaur, two each in Kurram and Bannu, and one each in Arakzai and Khyber.

This is significant in it being that first strike in Khyber - as most regular Holger readers know, the name of "North Waziristan" would normally be in the post title here. I'm not sure if this means that the target rich North Waziristan is getting less rich or if the intel was that there was a big fish or two at this Khyber location - guess we'll have to wait and see.

What would be ideal would be to see predator attacks across the provinces and agencies so that the Taliban would always be kept guessing but I still hold to my observations before - if you are a Taliban in NW Pakistan and the cock crows calling attention to the fact that it is now Monday, you best get your ass below ground.

US Predators carry out first strike in Khyber

US Predators fired missiles a Taliban compound and a vehicle today in the first recorded airstrike in Pakistan's Khyber tribal agency.

The unmanned Predators or the more deadly Reapers attacked a home "and two trucks loaded with militants" in Khyber, Pakistan's gateway to Afghanistan, The Associated Press reported.

Between five and 15 Taliban fighters were reported killed in the attack, which took place in the Tirah Valley. The target of the attack is not clear, and no senior Taliban or al Qaeda leaders or operatives have been reported killed.

The attack is the first in Khyber since the first US airstrike was recorded in 2004. Most of the attacks have focused on North and South Waziristan. The 135 recorded strikes in Pakistan's northwest are distributed as follows: 81 in North Waziristan, 43 in South Waziristan, three in Bajaur, two each in Kurram and Bannu, and one each in Arakzai and Khyber.

Khyber is a terrorist haven

Khyber has become a hub of Taliban and al Qaeda activity since the Pakistani military launched an operation in the Mehsud tribal areas in South Waziristan in October 2009. Taliban forces have relocated to the Bara and Jamrud regions, and the Tirah Valley in the Khyber [see LWJ report, "Taliban escape South Waziristan operation"].

Tariq Afridi, a powerful Taliban commander based in Darra Adam Khel, has taken control of Taliban operations in Khyber. The Taliban and Lashkar-e-Islam, a local Taliban ally commanded by Mangal Bagh, have gained power in Khyber despite a series of Pakistani military operations that began in the summer of 2007 which were supposedly designed to relieve Taliban pressure on neighboring Peshawar. A total of five military offensives have failed to dislodge the terror groups.

Both the Taliban and the Lashkar-e-Islam are known to operate bases and training camps in the Tirah Valley, as well as in Bara and Jamrud in Khyber. These safe havens enable these terror groups to launch attacks inside Pakistan as well across the border in Nangarhar province in Afghanistan. In November 2008, the US military attacked Taliban forces in the Tirah Valley after they retreated across the border from Nangarhar in Afghanistan. US strike aircraft and artillery killed seven Taliban fighters during the hot pursuit.

The Khyber Pass is NATO's main conduit for supplies into Afghanistan; an estimated 70 percent of NATO's supplies move through this strategic crossing point. The Taliban forced the Khyber Pass to be shut down seven times between September 2007 and April 2008 due to attacks.

US strikes in Pakistan, by the numbers

Today's strikes make for the fifth reported inside Pakistan this month. The US is well on its way to exceeding last year’s strike total in Pakistan, and has matched the 2008 total. So far this year, the US has carried out 36 strikes in Pakistan; all but one of the strikes this year have taken place in North Waziristan. In 2009, the US carried out 53 strikes in Pakistan. [For up-to-date charts on the US air campaign in Pakistan, see: "Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2010."]

Unmanned US Predator and Reaper strike aircraft have been pounding Taliban and al Qaeda hideouts in North Waziristan over the past several months in an effort to kill senior terror leaders and disrupt the networks that threaten Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the West. [For more information, see LWJ report, "Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2010."]

Most recently, on March 8, a US strike in a bazaar in Miramshah killed a top al Qaeda operative known as Sadam Hussein Al Hussami. Hussami was a protégé of Abu Khabab al Masri, al Qaeda's top bomb maker and WMD chief, who was killed in a US airstrike in July 2008. Hussami was a senior member of al Qaeda's external operations network, and was on a council that advised the suicide bomber who carried out the attack at Combat Outpost Chapman in Khost, Afghanistan. That attack killed seven CIA officials and a Jordanian intelligence officer. The slain intelligence operatives had been involved in gathering intelligence for the hunt for al Qaeda and Taliban leaders along the Afghan-Pakistani border.

In early April, Siraj Haqqani, the leader of the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network, said that the effectiveness of US airstrikes in killing senior Taliban and al Qaeda leaders had “decreased 90 percent" since the suicide attack on Combat Outpost Chapman. While other factors may be involved in the decreased effectiveness in killing the top-tier leaders, an analysis of the data shows that only two top-tier commanders have been killed since Jan 1, 2010, but seven top-tier leaders were killed between Aug.1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2009. [See LWJ report, "Effectiveness of US strikes in Pakistan 'decreased 90 percent' since suicide strike on CIA - Siraj Haqqani," for more information.]

For the past few months, most US and Pakistani officials believed that Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, had been killed in a Jan. 14 strike in Pasalkot in North Waziristan. But recently, after four months of silence on the subject, the Taliban released two tapes to prove that Hakeemullah is alive. On the tapes, Hakeemullah said the Taliban will carry out attacks inside the US.