Twin attacks: US missiles kill 13 in N Waziristan
Official says loyalists of the Haqqani network were victim of first strike.
MIRAMSHAH:
Two US drone strikes struck militants in North Waziristan near the Afghan border on Thursday, killing at least 13 fighters, officials said.
The aircraft fired missiles hours apart on separate targets killing five militants in the first attack that destroyed a compound in Spalga town near Miramshah and at least eight died in the second attack on a vehicle near the town of Mir Ali, about 25 kilometres to the east.
“The death toll may rise,” a security official warned AFP after the second strike targeted militants travelling in a double cabin pick-up.
“At least eight militant have been killed in the second strike,” he said, describing them all as “foreigners”.
Another security official in Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan, put the death toll at 12, saying they were all Uzbek fighters.
“The vehicle caught fire and the dead bodies are badly mutilated,” he added.
Those killed in the first attack were loyalists of Badar Mansoor and the Haqqani network, loyal to the Afghan Taliban whose leaders are understood to be based in North Waziristan, one of the Pakistani officials said.
Last Thursday, officials said Mansoor, described as the “de facto leader of al Qaeda in Pakistan” was killed in a drone strike in North Waziristan.
Mansoor was considered one of America’s main targets in the country, wanted for bomb attacks on the minority Ahmadi sect that killed nearly 100 people in May 2010 and the chief link between al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban.
According to an AFP tally, 45 US missile strikes were reported in Pakistan’s tribal belt in 2009, the year Obama took office, 101 in 2010 and 64 in 2011.
The New America Foundation think-tank in Washington says drone strikes in Pakistan have killed between 1,715 and 2,680 people in the past eight years.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 17th, 2012.
The aircraft fired missiles hours apart on separate targets killing five militants in the first attack that destroyed a compound in Spalga town near Miramshah and at least eight died in the second attack on a vehicle near the town of Mir Ali, about 25 kilometres to the east.
“The death toll may rise,” a security official warned AFP after the second strike targeted militants travelling in a double cabin pick-up.
“At least eight militant have been killed in the second strike,” he said, describing them all as “foreigners”.
Another security official in Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan, put the death toll at 12, saying they were all Uzbek fighters.
“The vehicle caught fire and the dead bodies are badly mutilated,” he added.
Those killed in the first attack were loyalists of Badar Mansoor and the Haqqani network, loyal to the Afghan Taliban whose leaders are understood to be based in North Waziristan, one of the Pakistani officials said.
Last Thursday, officials said Mansoor, described as the “de facto leader of al Qaeda in Pakistan” was killed in a drone strike in North Waziristan.
Mansoor was considered one of America’s main targets in the country, wanted for bomb attacks on the minority Ahmadi sect that killed nearly 100 people in May 2010 and the chief link between al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban.
According to an AFP tally, 45 US missile strikes were reported in Pakistan’s tribal belt in 2009, the year Obama took office, 101 in 2010 and 64 in 2011.
The New America Foundation think-tank in Washington says drone strikes in Pakistan have killed between 1,715 and 2,680 people in the past eight years.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 17th, 2012.
Two US drone strikes struck militants in North Waziristan near the Afghan border on Thursday, killing at least 13 fighters, officials said.
The aircraft fired missiles hours apart on separate targets killing five militants in the first attack that destroyed a compound in Spalga town near Miramshah and at least eight died in the second attack on a vehicle near the town of Mir Ali, about 25 kilometres to the east.
“The death toll may rise,” a security official warned AFP after the second strike targeted militants travelling in a double cabin pick-up.
“At least eight militant have been killed in the second strike,” he said, describing them all as “foreigners”.
Another security official in Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan, put the death toll at 12, saying they were all Uzbek fighters.
“The vehicle caught fire and the dead bodies are badly mutilated,” he added.
Those killed in the first attack were loyalists of Badar Mansoor and the Haqqani network, loyal to the Afghan Taliban whose leaders are understood to be based in North Waziristan, one of the Pakistani officials said.
Last Thursday, officials said Mansoor, described as the “de facto leader of al Qaeda in Pakistan” was killed in a drone strike in North Waziristan.
Mansoor was considered one of America’s main targets in the country, wanted for bomb attacks on the minority Ahmadi sect that killed nearly 100 people in May 2010 and the chief link between al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban.
According to an AFP tally, 45 US missile strikes were reported in Pakistan’s tribal belt in 2009, the year Obama took office, 101 in 2010 and 64 in 2011.
The New America Foundation think-tank in Washington says drone strikes in Pakistan have killed between 1,715 and 2,680 people in the past eight years.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 17th, 2012.
The aircraft fired missiles hours apart on separate targets killing five militants in the first attack that destroyed a compound in Spalga town near Miramshah and at least eight died in the second attack on a vehicle near the town of Mir Ali, about 25 kilometres to the east.
“The death toll may rise,” a security official warned AFP after the second strike targeted militants travelling in a double cabin pick-up.
“At least eight militant have been killed in the second strike,” he said, describing them all as “foreigners”.
Another security official in Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan, put the death toll at 12, saying they were all Uzbek fighters.
“The vehicle caught fire and the dead bodies are badly mutilated,” he added.
Those killed in the first attack were loyalists of Badar Mansoor and the Haqqani network, loyal to the Afghan Taliban whose leaders are understood to be based in North Waziristan, one of the Pakistani officials said.
Last Thursday, officials said Mansoor, described as the “de facto leader of al Qaeda in Pakistan” was killed in a drone strike in North Waziristan.
Mansoor was considered one of America’s main targets in the country, wanted for bomb attacks on the minority Ahmadi sect that killed nearly 100 people in May 2010 and the chief link between al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban.
According to an AFP tally, 45 US missile strikes were reported in Pakistan’s tribal belt in 2009, the year Obama took office, 101 in 2010 and 64 in 2011.
The New America Foundation think-tank in Washington says drone strikes in Pakistan have killed between 1,715 and 2,680 people in the past eight years.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 17th, 2012.