Abbottabad raid aftermath: CIA used stealth drones to monitor Bin Laden
Reports say Sirajuddin Haqqani a potential target for an Abbottabad-like attack.
WASHINGTON:
The CIA flew new stealth drone planes on dozens of secret missions deep into Pakistan to monitor Osama bin Laden’s compound before US commandos killed him, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
Citing current and former US officials, the Post said the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) used the highly sophisticated unmanned planes to fly undetected at high altitudes and provide high-resolution video months before Bin Laden was killed in a dramatic May 2 assault by US Special Forces.
“It’s not like you can just park a Predator [drone] overhead – the Pakistanis would know,” a former US official told the newspaper, noting the aircraft provided more enhanced surveillance than other available tools.
But the CIA was also using satellites, eavesdropping equipment and agency operatives based at a safe house in Abbottabad where Bin Laden is believed to have lived for about five years until he was found, according to the Post.
The move would highlight the growing mistrust between the US and Pakistan, two uneasy allies in the fight against terror. The stealth drones provided imagery that President Barack Obama watched with his national security team as the nighttime raid unfolded, the Post said. The aircraft can also eavesdrop on electronic transmissions so that US official could listen in on Pakistan’s response.
Pak- US ties were further strained after Indian Express reported that Sirajuddin Haqqani, head of the Haqqani terror network, is a potential target for an Abbottabad-like attack, US officials have warned. According to the newspaper the network’s inner circle fled their compounds in Pakistan as the raid on Osama bin Laden became public.
The report added that Wall Street Journal quoted a tribal Pashtun elder with ties to the clan saying that, “Haqqanis are worried”, and the group has been alarmed by the persistent CIA drone strikes and the killing of Bin Laden. The elder added that they emptied their compounds in North Waziristan’s capital, Miran Shah, in the days following the raid that killed Bin Laden.
The US has been alleging that the ISI is directly supporting the Haqqani network, according to the report. The paper quoting American officials said that the group’s chief is a potential target for a raid like the one that killed Bin Laden.
According to the report, “US officials said they want to spare Pakistan from the embarrassment caused after the killing of Bin Laden, and would rather like Pakistan to get Haqqani.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 19th, 2011.
The CIA flew new stealth drone planes on dozens of secret missions deep into Pakistan to monitor Osama bin Laden’s compound before US commandos killed him, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
Citing current and former US officials, the Post said the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) used the highly sophisticated unmanned planes to fly undetected at high altitudes and provide high-resolution video months before Bin Laden was killed in a dramatic May 2 assault by US Special Forces.
“It’s not like you can just park a Predator [drone] overhead – the Pakistanis would know,” a former US official told the newspaper, noting the aircraft provided more enhanced surveillance than other available tools.
But the CIA was also using satellites, eavesdropping equipment and agency operatives based at a safe house in Abbottabad where Bin Laden is believed to have lived for about five years until he was found, according to the Post.
The move would highlight the growing mistrust between the US and Pakistan, two uneasy allies in the fight against terror. The stealth drones provided imagery that President Barack Obama watched with his national security team as the nighttime raid unfolded, the Post said. The aircraft can also eavesdrop on electronic transmissions so that US official could listen in on Pakistan’s response.
Pak- US ties were further strained after Indian Express reported that Sirajuddin Haqqani, head of the Haqqani terror network, is a potential target for an Abbottabad-like attack, US officials have warned. According to the newspaper the network’s inner circle fled their compounds in Pakistan as the raid on Osama bin Laden became public.
The report added that Wall Street Journal quoted a tribal Pashtun elder with ties to the clan saying that, “Haqqanis are worried”, and the group has been alarmed by the persistent CIA drone strikes and the killing of Bin Laden. The elder added that they emptied their compounds in North Waziristan’s capital, Miran Shah, in the days following the raid that killed Bin Laden.
The US has been alleging that the ISI is directly supporting the Haqqani network, according to the report. The paper quoting American officials said that the group’s chief is a potential target for a raid like the one that killed Bin Laden.
According to the report, “US officials said they want to spare Pakistan from the embarrassment caused after the killing of Bin Laden, and would rather like Pakistan to get Haqqani.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 19th, 2011.