It's been awhile since I've been able to report some paydirt from predator drones hitting Pakistan's North Waziristan but that changes today as four jihadis were killed in their compound. The report is very specific in that they are "foreign" fighters so that is either going to mean al Qaeda (more than likely Arabs) or central Asian Taliban. I suppose there's an outside chance they could be some more of the European Taliban from Germany, as well.
From the report at The Long War Journal:
US Predators struck again in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled, al Qaeda haven of North Waziristan, killing four "foreigners"
Today's strike took place in the village of Hyderkhel in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan. Unmanned Predators, or the more heavily armed Reapers, fired two missiles at at a militant compound" in the village a, Pakistani intelligence official told AFP.
Four "foreigners," a term used to describe Arab al Qaeda or Central Asian terrorists, are reported to have been killed, the Pakistani official said. No senior al Qaeda, Taliban, or other terrorist leaders have been reported killed in today's strike.
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. Mir Ali is a known hub for al Qaeda's military and external operations councils.
Since Sept. 8, 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 Mir Ali area. The IJU members are believed to be involved in a recently discovered al Qaeda plot that targeted several major European cities and was modeled after the terror assault on the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008.
It is pretty unusual to see a mid week strike like this by American drones but hey, I'm not gonna complain one bit about it - it's good to see something going on as I think the last strike was last Friday. At the same time, this area, the area of Mir Ali, must be starting to look like swiss cheese about now with all of the strikes that have taken place there over the past year.
US Predators killed four "foreigners" in North Waziristan strike
US Predators struck again in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled, al Qaeda haven of North Waziristan, killing four "foreigners"
Today's strike took place in the village of Hyderkhel in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan. Unmanned Predators, or the more heavily armed Reapers, fired two missiles at at a militant compound" in the village a, Pakistani intelligence official told AFP.
Four "foreigners," a term used to describe Arab al Qaeda or Central Asian terrorists, are reported to have been killed, the Pakistani official said. No senior al Qaeda, Taliban, or other terrorist leaders have been reported killed in today's strike.
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. Mir Ali is a known hub for al Qaeda's military and external operations councils.
Since Sept. 8, 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 Mir Ali area. The IJU members are believed to be involved in a recently discovered al Qaeda plot that targeted several major European cities and was modeled after the terror assault on the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008.
This 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.
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 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 launched five Predator strikes inside Pakistan this year; all five strikes have hit targets in North Waziristan.
The pace of the strikes from the beginning of September 2010 until the end of December has been 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, 14 in November, and 12 in December. 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. The suicide bombing at COP Chapman killed seven CIA officials and a Jordanian intelligence officer.
The US carried out 117 attacks inside Pakistan in 2010, more than doubling the number of strikes in 2009. In late August 2010, the US 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 - 2010.]
In 2010 the strikes were confined almost exclusively to 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 that occurred outside of North Waziristan, seven took place in South Waziristan, five occurred in Khyber, and one took place in Kurram.
Since Sept. 1, 2010, the US has conducted 67 strikes in Pakistan's tribal agencies. The bulk of those attacks have aimed at the terror groups in North Waziristan, with 61 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.]
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