U.S. drone attack kills 10 in Pakistan: intelligence sources

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

By Saud Mehsud
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan | Sun Jan 6, 2013 9:03am EST

(Reuters) - A U.S. drone strike killed at least 10 people suspected to be Taliban fighters in Pakistan's northern tribal areas on Sunday, intelligence sources said, days after another drone strike killed a top militant leader in the area.

The attack on three Taliban compounds in Babar Pehari, South Waziristan, killed between 10 and 12 people, six intelligence sources said. More militants were believed to be in the compounds when they were hit, officials said, meaning the death toll could rise.

Three of the intelligence sources and a Taliban commander said that Wali Muhammed, also known as Toofin, was among the dead. He supervised suicide bomb squads for the Pakistani Taliban.

The Pakistani Taliban has established sanctuaries in the mountainous Babar area, 140 km (87 miles) northeast of Wana, the main city of the South Waziristan region, they said.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/06/us-pakistan-drones-idUSBRE90502820130106

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. Ho hum, who cares, just ensuring there is a new generation of "terrorists" to hit with drones.

Perpetual war. Cool.

[AllyCat]

2. Horrible. I am sure this was not a "surgical strike" only killing the bad guys

How many more are we going to kill to prop up markets?

[The Straight Story]

3. I am surprised we got the blame for this

http://www.allgov.com/news/us-and-the-world/yemeni-government-covers-up-us-responsibility-for-civilian-drone-deaths-121229?news=846610

Yemeni Government Covers Up U.S. Responsibility for Civilian Drone Deaths

The government of Yemen has tried to claim responsibility for numerous airstrikes by American drones in an effort to keep its population from siding with al-Qaeda militants.

Of the nearly 40 attacks launched by U.S. unmanned aircraft in the Middle Eastern country, one in particular has stirred considerable controversy and antipathy towards Washington.

On September 2, an American missile destroyed a Toyota truck loaded with 14 Yemenis from a village near Radda. The attack killed 11, including a woman and two children.

The Yemeni government tried to claim that its own air force carried out the assault, and that those killed were al-Qaeda militants. Many locals refused to accept the official explanation, and eventually Yemeni officials were forced to acknowledge that the strike killed only civilians.

Following a 2009 U.S. drone strike on the southern region of al-Majala, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of civilians, Yemen’s then-leader Ali Abdullah Saleh told then-U.S. Central Command chief Gen. David H. Petraeus, “We’ll continue saying the bombs are ours, not yours.” The assurance was made in a U.S. Embassy email, which was later disclosed by WikiLeaks.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. "the Pakistani Taliban"????

I had no clue there were Taliban in Pakistan.
I'm still trying to adjust to the change of targets in Afghanistan, from Al-Quada to Taliban to insurgents.

When did Pakistan import the Talibans?

[hack89]

7. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (the TTP) (Urdu/Pashto: تحریک طالبان پاکستان; Student Movement of Pakistan), alternatively referred to as the Pakistani Taliban, is an umbrella organization of various Islamist militant groups based in the northwestern Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghan border in Pakistan. Most, but not all, Pakistani Taliban groups coalesce under the TTP.[2] In December 2007 about 13 groups united under the leadership of Baitullah Mehsud to form the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.[1][3] Among the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan's stated objectives are resistance against the Pakistani state, enforcement of their interpretation of sharia and a plan to unite against NATO-led forces in Afghanistan.[1][3][4]

The TTP is not directly affiliated with the Afghan Taliban movement led by Mullah Omar, with both groups differing greatly in their histories, strategic goals and interests although they both share a primarily Deobandi interpretation of Islam and are predominantly Pashtun.[4][5] The Afghan Taliban, with the alleged support of Pakistan, operate against international coalition and Afghan security forces in Afghanistan but are strictly opposed to targeting the Pakistani state.[5] The TTP in contrast has almost exclusively targeted elements of the Pakistani state although it took credit for the 2009 Camp Chapman attack and the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt.[6][7]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tehrik-i-Taliban_Pakistan

[Robb]

11. The US has launched 4 drone strikes in Pak this year.

About 50 last year, and about 50 the year before that. Around 100 in 2010.

It is perhaps more accurate to say Pakistan exports, rather than imports.

[grahamhgreen]

5. Are we at war with Pakistan? I can't keep up!

[asjr]

6. All of those killed must have the word Suspect written on

their bodies somewhere for us to find them.

[Towlie]

8. It's official, if it ends in "-stan" then we're at war with it.

[RC]

9. Have we ever had a drone strike against KNOWN terrorists, that didn't kill just innocent civilians?

Or have all of them been only against suspected terrorists, as in suspected after the fact?

[1springhill]

20. Thats what I don't understand.............

Suspected terrorists? We are killing these people without even full knowledge of their culpability? It is just insane.

[pocoloco]

10. Well, it sure doesn't require all the manpower it would take to roundup all the usual ones!

[cosmicone]

12. Go drones !!!!! n/t

[rachel1]

13. Hooray for slaughtering people suspected of committing crimes without trial!!!!!

[cosmicone]

15. More people would be dead on both sides

if an attempt was made to arrest these people and give them trials. Furthermore, Pakistani government's direct complicity with the terror groups makes it impossible to arrest them and even if they were, Pakistani courts are impotent to convict ISI people.

Would you rather have them carry out their attacks and keep killing Afghanis and NATO forces who want democracy ad nauseum?

[Nihil]

16. Anything is OK for certain types of people.

Alamuti Lotus has it right but obviously found a jury who thinks that slaughtering people
merely suspected of being possibly linked to an intangible excuse for an organisation
is perfectly OK as long as the victims are from one particular country.

[cosmicone]

17. So you think

a tactic that has victims in all countries is better when only one of the countries is the aggressor?

[cpwm17]

18. You have serious issues with reality

The US is the aggressor. We are bombing them. The US has bombed numerous countries in my lifetime, almost all of it unprovoked. That is why we face terrorism.

We may, in the future, face a major terrorist attack from a Pakistani, just like we were attacked by Saudis on 9-11. It will be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Anyone who was the least bit aware of what the US was doing in the world before 9-11 should have know that we had a good chance of being hit by a major terrorist attack.

[closeupready]

19. Alamuti Lotus's hidden post sums up my perceptions

as well. Just my personal opinion.