US missile ‘kills up to seven in Pakistan’s Khyber’

PESHAWAR: A US missile strike killed seven militants in Pakistan’s tribal district of Khyber on Thursday, local security officials said, in an apparent expansion of America’s covert drone campaign.

The United States does not as a rule confirm drone attacks, but its military and the Central Intelligence Agency operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy the aircraft in the region.

Washington considers Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt the global headquarters of Al-Qaeda and says eliminating the militant threat is vital to winning the nine-year war against the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Pakistani officials said a US drone fired a missile that destroyed a vehicle carrying up to seven militants in the Spin Darang area of the Tirah valley in Khyber, which borders Afghanistan.

“It was a drone attack. Seven militants travelling in the vehicle were killed in the attack,” a security official in Peshawar told AFP.

Another security official said all the dead were local Taliban militants.

They were thought to be from Waziristan, Pakistan’s most notorious Al-Qaeda and Taliban hub on the Afghan border, and the northwestern district of Swat, where Pakistan launched a major operation last year to clear out the Taliban.

Pakistani security officials were divided over whether it was the first or second US drone strike in Khyber, close to the teeming northwestern city of Peshawar.

Local media reported a US drone strike in Khyber in May, although Pakistani officials at the time were reluctant to confirm the attack.

A new US policy review on Thursday concluded that President Barack Obama’s troop surge has made progress in curbing the Taliban in Afghanistan and severely weakening Al-Qaeda in Pakistan.

The report says that after a relentless US campaign, Al-Qaeda’s leadership in Pakistan is weaker than at any stage since the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks.

Progress will permit a “responsible reduction” of US forces in Afghanistan, currently nearly 100,000-strong, to begin next July, though a full handover to Afghan security is not envisaged until at least 2014, the review said.

The report also said that the US anti-terror alliance with Pakistan had been “substantial” but “uneven” in the last year, since Obama vowed to forge a new relationship of mutual trust and respect with Islamabad.

On Thursday, Britain said it was looking into media reports that two British men, possibly Muslim converts, were killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region last week.

“Our High Commission in Pakistan is seeking further information on these reports,” a Foreign Office spokeswoman said.

Channel Four News and The Guardian newspaper claimed that the Britons died in a strike near the town of Datta Khel on December 10.

The men were aged 48 and 25 and reportedly had English names but used the pseudonyms Abu Bakr and Mansoor Ahmed.

If confirmed, the men would be the first white British converts to have been killed in the area, The Guardian said. AGENCIES

Pakistan Rejects US Demand to Expand Drone Operations

News Trends: The United States is seeking to expand the areas inside Pakistan where Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) drones can operate.

Pakistan, however, rejected the request and instead agreed to more modest measures, including an expanded CIA presence in Quetta. You expect us to open the skies for anything that you can fly, the paper quotes a high-ranking Pakistani intelligence official as saying. In which country can you do that?Citing unnamed US and Pakistani officials, the newspaper said US officials were eyeing areas surrounding the Pakistani city of Quetta, where the Taliban leadership is believed to be hiding. But the request also seeks to expand the boundaries for drone strikes in the tribal areas, the report said. On Friday, a US drone attack destroyed a vehicle in Pakistan’s tribal district of North Waziristan, killing at least three suspected militants, Pakistani security officials said. The United States considers Pakistan’s tribal belt an Al-Qaeda headquarters and the most dangerous place on Earth, and has reportedly criticised Pakistan’s failure so far to launch a major ground offensive in North Waziristan. Friday’s drone strike comes three days after a similar attack killed at least 15 militants and destroyed a training centre north of Miranshah.More than 220 people have been killed in Pakistan in over 40 strikes since September 3.

US missiles kill three in North Waziristan

MIRANSHAH: A US drone missile destroyed a vehicle in a tribal district of North Waziristan on Friday, killing at least three suspected militants.

“Two missiles were fired on a vehicle. So far three militants are confirmed killed in this attack,” a senior security official told a foreing news agency.

Local intelligence officials said the dead belonged to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked Haqqani network, but it was not immediately clear whether they included any high-value targets.

They said up to four militants were killed when the vehicle exploded into a fireball in Naurak village, about 15 kilometres (nine miles) east of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan. AGENCIES

US drone strikes kill 7 militants in Miranshah

PESHAWAR:Two US drone strikes targeting vehicles killed seven militants on Sunday in Pakistan’s rugged tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said.

Both attacks took place in Asar village of Datta Khel town, some 50km (31 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district known as a hub for Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants.

“The US drone fired three missiles at the militants’ vehicle, killing four rebels,” a senior security official in the area said of the first strike, adding that the nationalities of those killed were not immediately known.

Another senior security official in the area confirmed the strike and toll.

The second strike, also targeting a vehicle, killed three rebels in the same village.

“Four missiles fired from a US drone on another vehicle which was going to the site of the first attack

11 killed in drone attack in North Waziristan

US drones attacks have claimed around 26 lives in the last 20 hours in North Waziristan.
The unmanned aircraft targeted a militant hideout in Miramshah killing at least 11 people. The pre-dawn attack the third in less than 24 hours was directed at the Haqqani network.
Some 12 missiles were fired in the attack which took place in Dargah Mandi village on the outskirts of Miramshah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal district where US missiles killed 15 militants in two separate attacks Tuesday.
Residents said there was panic in the village as the noise of drones was heard just before dawn.
As the US drones came over the village people started shouting and running here and there shouting ‘run, drones have come,’ a local tribesman, requesting anonymity for fear militants might harm him. Residents said the targeted houses were owned by a local tribesman Bacha Khan, who had rented them out to militants, and were destroyed in the attacks.
A fresh surge in US missile strikes has killed 75 militants since September 3 in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt. Over 1,070 people have been killed in more than 125 drone strikes in Pakistan since August 2008, including a number of senior militants.

US Drone Strike in Datta Khel, 4 killed

PESHAWAR, News Trends: A US missile strike Sunday killed four persons in northwestern tribal belt, near the Afghan border, officials said.

The strike early Sunday hit Newey Adda village in the Datta Khel area near Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan tribal district, officials said.

“A US drone fired two missiles. The target was a house said to be used by militants as a compound. Four militants have died,” a senior security official in Peshawar told.

Following the attack, the local tribesmen helped themselves and retrieved the dead from beneath the debris.

During the last two months the U.S. drone attacks in the North Waziristan have intensified, while the local elders have demanded for halting the drone attacks.

Butt admits nerves almost blew Pakistan victory

LONDON: Pakistani captain Salman Butt admitted that nerves nearly got to his team as they scraped home in the third Test against England at the Oval on Saturday.

Umar Akmal and Mohammad Amir held their nerve to guide the tourists to a four wicket win in what was almost a repeat of their defeat of Australia at Headingley recently when they lost seven wickets chasing 180.

“It was a bit nervous but this time it was by four wickets instead of three,” said Butt.

The result leaves the tourists 2-1 down in the series with one more Test to play at Lord’s starting on Thursday.

Set 148 to win on the fourth day Pakistan got off to a flying start thanks to Butt (48) and Imran Farhat (33) but wobbled when they lost three wickets for eight runs with their target in sight.

But Akmal (16 not out) and Amir (four not out) steadied the ship and Pakistan now

US drone strike kills four militants in Pakistan

WAZIRISTAN: Four militants were killed in a US drone attack in Pakistan’s northwest tribal belt on Saturday, security officials said.

The missiles targeted a compound used by militants in Kutabkhel village, some three kilometres south of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district, a security official based in Peshawar told AFP.

“A US drone fired four missiles. They targeted a compound and also a car outside the compound,” the official said.

The drone strike was also confirmed by two intelligence officials in Miranshah. AGENCIES

US drone strikes kill 18 in SWaziristan

PESHAWAR: A US drone fired four missiles into a compound reportedly used by terrorists in northwestern tribal belt on Saturday, killing at least 18 militants, security officials said.

The missiles targeted the compound in Dwasarak village, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan district, a senior Pakistani security official who wished to remain anonymous told media.

“At least 18 militants have been killed in this attack,” he said adding that two US drones fired four missiles.

Two intelligence officials, one in Wana and one based in Peshawar, also confirmed the attack and the death toll.

South Waziristan, considered a militant stronghold, was the scene of a major Pakistani offensive last year.

Dwasarak is close to the Afghan border in the Angoor Adda area of South Waziristan. Officials said militants belonging to local commander Maulana Halimullah were killed in the attack, the second time that US drones have targeted his men.

A security official in Miranshah, the main town of the neighbouring North Waziristan tribal district said militants were also using the compound as a training camp.

Soon after the attack, militants surrounded the village and forced residents to stay in their houses, another security official in Wana told media.

It was not immediately clear whether there were any high-value targets among the dead, official said.

Three More Witnesses Presented in Court: Dr Aafia’s Case

Dr Aafia Siddqui was thrown out of the US court for voicing disapproval to a witness’s statement, while two members of the 12-member-jury conducting the said hearing have been reshuffled for having talked with some unconcerned persons during the case proceedings.
Dr Aafia Siddiqui constantly expressed non-confidence over the judicial proceedings involved in her case besides terming the shooting allegations as fake, whereas three more witnesses were being presented before the court in this regard. Following her protest, the jury at NY court got her out of courtroom; however, two of the jury members were prevented from hearing of case after a little while and from now and onwards, two replaced judges will participate the remaining hearing of the case.
Aafia’s counsel told the court that she could not attend the court proceedings owing to her mental state. It may be mentioned Dr Aafia’s judicial trial is underway over charges of shooting US troops in Afghanistan.

---

Three More Witnesses Presented in Court: Dr Aafia’s Case was first posted on January 26, 2010 at 4:13 pm.

Next Page »