U.S. Drone Attacks Against Militants Inside Pakistan

[Someoneforyou]

U.S. missiles kill 5 militants in Pakistan: official
16 MARCH 2011

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan – A US drone strike in Pakistan's lawless northwestern tribal belt on Wednesday killed at least five militants, security officials said.

The strike took place in Datta Khel town, 25 kilometres (15 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district, which borders Afghanistan and is a stronghold of Al-Qaeda-linked Taliban militants.

"A US drone fired three missiles at a militant compound in Datta Khel. Five militants were killed in this attack," one intelligence official told AFP.

Map locating Datta Khel, in Pakistan, where at least five militants were killed in a US drone strike.

Source: AFP

 

[Someoneforyou]

U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper (Predator B) Hunter/Killer Drone

- The MQ-9 Reaper (originally the Predator B) is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) (also known as a Remotely Piloted Vehicle (RPV)) developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI). The MQ-9 is the first hunter-killer UAV designed for long-endurance, high-altitude surveillance.

- Although the MQ-9 can fly pre-programmed routes autonomously, the aircraft is always monitored or controlled by aircrew in the Ground Control Station and weapons employment is always commanded by the pilot. Hence the preference to refer to the MQ-9 as a Remotely Piloted Vehicle.

- Operators can hunt for targets and observe terrain using a number of sensors, including a thermal camera. One estimate has the on-board camera able to read a license plate from two miles (3.2 km) away.

- An operator's command takes 1.2 seconds to reach the drone via a satellite link.

- An MQ-9 with two 1,000 pound (450 kilogram) external fuel tanks and a thousand pounds of munitions has an endurance of 42 hours. The Reaper has an endurance of 14 hours when fully loaded with munitions.

- The MQ-9 carries a variety of weapons including the GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bomb, the AGM-114 Hellfire II air-to-ground missiles, the AIM-9 Sidewinder and recently, the GBU-38 JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition).

SPECIFICATIONS:
"¢ Crew: None
"¢ Landing Type: runway
"¢ Launch Type: runway
"¢ Power Plant: Honeywell TP331-10 turboprop engine, 950 SHP (712 kW)
"¢ Fuel Capacity: 4,000 lb (1800 kg)
"¢ Wingspan: 66 ft (20 m)
"¢ Height: 12.5 ft (3.6 m)
"¢ Empty weight: 3,700 lb (2200 kg)
"¢ Max takeoff weight: 10,500 lb (4760 kg)

PERFORMANCE:
"¢ Service ceiling: 50,000 ft (15 km)
"¢ Operational altitude: 25,000 ft (7.5 km)
"¢ Endurance: 14–28 hours (14 hours fully loaded)
"¢ Range: 3,200 nmi (5,926 km, 3,682 mi)
"¢ Payload: 3,800 lb (1700 kg)
"¢ Internal: 800 lb (360 kg)
"¢ External: 3,000 lb (1,400 kg)
"¢ Maximum speed: 260 knots (482 km/h, 300 mph)
"¢ Cruise speed: 150–170 knots (276–313 km/h, 172–195 mph)

WEAPONS AND ARMAMENTS:
"¢ 7 Hardpoints
"¢ Up to 1,500 lb (680 kg) on the two inboard weapons stations
"¢ Up to 750 lb (340 kg) on the two middle stations
"¢ Up to 150 lb (68 kg) on the outboard stations
"¢ Center station not used
"¢ Up to 14 AGM-114 Hellfire air to ground missiles can be carried or four Hellfire missiles and two 500 lb (230 kg) GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs. The 500 lb (230 kg) GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) can also be carried. Testing is underway to support the operation of the AIM-92 Stinger air-to-air missile.

 

[Someoneforyou]

Video: U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper Hunter/Killer Drone

 

[Someoneforyou]

US missiles kill 38 militants in NW Pakistan
17 MARCH 2011

MIR ALI, Pakistan — U.S. unmanned aircraft fired four missiles into a building where suspected militants were meeting Thursday, killing 38 of them in an unusually deadly strike close to the Afghan border, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

The strikes took place in the Datta Khel area of the North Waziristan tribal region — the main sanctuary for al-Qaida and Taliban fighters along the Afghan border, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Seven militants were wounded in the strikes, said the officials. While it was unclear exactly how many militants were present at the meeting, it appeared that almost all of them were killed or wounded, they said.

The militants were allied with Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a powerful Pakistani Taliban commander in the area who has focused his efforts on fighting foreign troops in Afghanistan, said the officials. The insurgents were discussing plans to send new groups of fighters across the border, the intelligence officials added.

The most senior militant killed in the attack was Sharabat Khan, Bahadur's top commander for the Datta Khel area, who was leading the meeting, said the officials. Several foreign militants were also killed, they said.

The United States began firing missiles at militant targets in Pakistan in 2004, but the pace of the attacks picked up dramatically in 2008. Last year, there were around 120 strikes, which are believed to be carried out by unmanned drone aircraft launched either from Afghanistan or from inside Pakistan. There have been around 20 so far this year.

Most of the strikes this year and last have been in North Waziristan.

Source: Associated Press

 

[Someoneforyou]

US drone strike kills four in Pakistan: officials
PAKISTAN - 20 may 2011

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan – A US drone strike destroyed a vehicle in Pakistan's Taliban-infested North Waziristan district on the Afghan border, killing four suspected militants on Friday, local officials said.

The two missiles struck the Tappi area, 10 kilometres (six miles) east of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan, where US officials want Pakistan to launch an offensive against networks fighting in neighbouring Afghanistan.

"A US drone targeting a militants' vehicle fired two missiles killing four militants," a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Another local security official confirmed the strike and casualties, saying the identity of those killed in the attack was not immediately known.

Friday's attack was the seventh to be reported in Pakistan's tribal areas near the Afghan border since US commandos killed Osama bin Laden in a secret raid in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad on May 2.


Source: AFP

 

[Someoneforyou]

U.S. missile strike kills five in Pakistan: officials
4 June 2011

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan - A US missile strike targeting a militant compound killed five rebels in Pakistan's tribal badlands near the Afghan border on Friday, security officials said.

The strike took place in Ghwakhwa area, 10 kilometres (six miles) west of Wana, the main town of South Waziristan tribal region, where the military launched an operation two years ago.

"A US drone fired three missiles on a militant compound, killing five rebels," a senior security official in the area told AFP.

Another security official confirmed the strike and casualties but said the "identities of those killed in the attack were not immediately known".

Friday's attack was the ninth to be reported in Pakistan's tribal areas, close to the Afghan border, since US commandos killed terror mastermind Osama bin Laden in a raid in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad on May 2.

Source: AFP

 

[Someoneforyou]

Harkatul Jihad al-Islami (HJI) confirms Ilyas Kashmiri killed in U.S. Drone Attack
4 June 2011

Nine Militants were killed in U.S. Drone Strike

ISLAMABAD: A US drone attack that killed nine militants in South Waziristan targeted and killed top al Qaeda commander and chief of the Harkatul Jihad al-Islami (HJI) Ilyas Kashmiri, local officials said Saturday.

Moreover, an HJI spokesman confirmed that Kashmiri had been killed, DawnNews reported.

Kashmiri, 47, was considered one of the most feared operational commanders of the network that Osama bin Laden founded and has been blamed for a string of high-profile attacks on western targets, as well as in India and Pakistan.

The United States had put out a $5 million reward — the maximum for any most-wanted target — for any information that might help locate him.

Pakistani officials said nine militants were killed in the US missile strike on Friday at a compound in the Ghwakhwa area of South Waziristan, a stronghold of al-Qaeda-allied Taliban despite a sweeping Pakistani offensive in 2009.

"Nine militants were killed in last night's drone strike," a security official in Peshawar told AFP.

"All those killed were Kashmiri's fighters but informers told us that the dead bodies were badly mutilated and that it was not possible to recognise any of them," the official added.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, asked during a visit to the city of Multan about reports of Kashmiri's killing, said he had "no information".

Regional and anti-terrorism experts say that Kashmiri was one of al Qaeda's main operational commanders.

He was blamed for multiple attacks in Pakistan, including the recent May 22 siege on a naval air base in Karachi.

Counter-terrorism officials believe he was the main coordinator of a terror plot targeting Britain, France, Germany and the United States, which was apparently in the early stages when detected by intelligence agencies in 2010.

Two intelligence officials in Wana, the main town of South Waziristan, also confirmed that those killed on Friday were all Kashmiri's fighters.

Source: Dawn News

 

[Someoneforyou]

U.S. drone strikes kill 18 in Pakistan
6 june 2011

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – US missiles killed 18 militants in Pakistan's tribal district of South Waziristan on Monday, destroying compounds and a vehicle in the deadliest drone strikes for months, officials said.

Three strikes were reported just days after Pakistani officials said they believed senior Al-Qaeda commander Ilyas Kashmiri had died in a similar attack late Friday, also in South Waziristan which borders Afghanistan.

Washington has called Pakistan's semi-autonomous northwest tribal region the most dangerous place on Earth and the global headquarters of Al-Qaeda. Taliban and other Al-Qaeda-linked networks have carved out strongholds there.

The first strike killed seven militants in the early hours in Shalam Raghzai, 10 kilometres (six miles) northwest of Wana, the district's main town.

A second slammed two missiles into a compound in Wacha Dana, 12 kilometres northwest of Wana, killing eight militants, Pakistani officials said.

The third struck the Bray Nishtar area, which lies on the border with North Waziristan at 10:45 am (0545 GMT), about 30 kilometres from the site of the other two raids and about eight hours later.

"A US drone fired two missiles on a militant vehicle killing three rebels," a senior Pakistani security official told AFP of the third attack.

Another official warned the death toll could rise further. The combined toll of 18 made Monday's drone strikes the deadliest reported in Pakistan since a salvo of US missiles killed at least 35 people on March 17.

Initial reports suggested that some foreign militants may have been killed and that Pakistani Taliban were also targeted on Monday.

One of the demolished compounds was near a madrassa and just south of the Ghwakhwa area, where Kashmiri, one of Al-Qaeda's most feared operational leaders, was reportedly killed days earlier.

Kashmiri has a US bounty of $5 million on his head. Pakistani officials said he was the target of a Friday drone strike in which nine members of his outlawed Harakat-ul-Jihad al-Islam (HuJI) group died.


Source: AFP

 

[Someoneforyou]

U.S. drone strike kills 10 militants in Pakistan
12 July 2011

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan - A US drone strike targeting a compound in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt on the Afghan border on Monday killed at least 10 militants, local security officials said.

Two unmanned aircraft fired four missiles, hitting the compound and a vehicle parked in the Gorwaik area of Datta Khel town, 45 kilometres (28 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district, a senior official based in Peshawar, the regional capital told AFP.

"Two missiles struck the compound and another two hit a vehicle," the official said. "At least 10 militants were killed in this American drone attack."

A second security official based in Miranshah confirmed the death toll.

Both officials said the number of casualties could rise as the area of the drone strike had been completely destroyed.

Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants have carved out strongholds in the northwest where they are said to have plotted attacks on Pakistani, Afghan and Western targets.

A total of 20 US drone strikes have now been reported in Pakistan's tribal belt since US commandos found and killed Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in a unilateral airborne raid on the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad on May 2.

Officials said that all those killed in Monday's strike were local militants.


Source: AFP

 

[Tshering22]

Mods: I think we need to keep a sticky thread titled "Drone strikes update in Pakistan" and another one stating "Bomb attacks in Pakistan". Opening these is far better than wasting thousands of threads.

 

[Blackwater]

pls increase the area to POK and south pak punjab.

 

[Someoneforyou]

U.S. drone kills eight militants in NW Pakistan: officials
12 July 2011

This is the 21nd U.S. drone strike reported in Pakistan's tribal belt since U.S. commandos found and killed Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in a unilateral airborne raid on the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad on May 2.

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan - US missiles killed eight militants early Tuesday in an attack targeting a rebel compound in a tribal district of northwest Pakistan, security officials said.

The strike, which came less than 12 hours after at least 10 militants were killed in another drone attack, took place in South Waziristan's Bushnarai area close to the border with Afghanistan.

"At least eight militants were killed after a US drone fired two missiles at a militant compound," a senior security official told AFP.

A local security official and intelligence officials confirmed the attack and the casualties.

The identities of the militants were not clear immediately clear.

"The area where the strike took place is remote so gathering details takes time," the official said.

Several missiles strikes have recently targeted militant hideouts in the area which is considered a stronghold of militant commander Mullah Nazir, he said.


Source: AFP

 

[Blackwater]

U.S. drone kills 8 TERRORIST in NW Pakistan: officials
12 July 2011

This is the 21nd U.S. drone strike reported in Pakistan's tribal belt since U.S. commandos found and killed Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in a unilateral airborne raid on the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad on May 2.

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan - US missiles killed eight militants early Tuesday in an attack targeting a rebel compound in a tribal district of northwest Pakistan, security officials said.

The strike, which came less than 12 hours after at least 10 militants were killed in another drone attack, took place in South Waziristan's Bushnarai area close to the border with Afghanistan.

"At least eight militants were killed after a US drone fired two missiles at a militant compound," a senior security official told AFP.

A local security official and intelligence officials confirmed the attack and the casualties.

The identities of the militants were not clear immediately clear.

"The area where the strike took place is remote so gathering details takes time," the official said.

Several missiles strikes have recently targeted militant hideouts in the area which is considered a stronghold of militant commander Mullah Nazir, he said.


Source: AFP

Hahahaha.I like the title (8 TERRORIST KILLED). I can't stop laughing. I was watching RAMBO 3 the other day. Silvester Stallone and his crew and director and producer will repent for making that film today

Now the americans should work on new film "Mujhahid bane terrorist" or "Mujhahid se terrorist tak". or " humari bhool ka nateza" or "Humari galti ki saza"

 

[Parthy]

US drone strike kills 21 in northwest Pakistan, biggest in weeks

A US drone fired two missiles into Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region on the Afghan border on Wednesday, killing at least 21 suspected militants, including foreigners, local officials said, in one of the biggest attacks in weeks.

The drone targeted a house 3 km (2 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town of the region, known to be a hotbed of Taliban and al-Qaida militants.

"The dead included local Taliban as well as some Arabs and Uzbek nationals," one intelligence official in North Waziristan said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

It was not immediately known if any high-profile militants were among the dead. Militants often dispute official account of such strikes.

Initial reports said five militants were killed in the attack but officials said the toll had gone up to 21 after more bodies were found from the rubble of the house.

Drone strikes have been a major source of friction between the United States and Pakistan, with ties at their worst since US special forces killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in a secret raid in a Pakistani garrison town in May.

While Pakistan publicly opposes the strikes, it has privately allowed them and cooperated with the United States determining targets.

But since the May commando raid, which Pakistan considers a grievous breach of sovereignty, the powerful head of the army, General Ashfaq Kayani, has called for a halt.

Washington appears determined to press forward with drone attacks, which its sees as an effective tool to stem cross-border attacks by militants on foreign forces in Afghanistan.



US drone strike kills 21 in northwest Pakistan, biggest in weeks - The Times of India

 

[SHASH2K2]

Reaper in AFghanistan
​

Predator

Talibunnies sent to heaven to enjoy 72 Virgins

Heron drones from Israel

​

 

[asianobserve]

It must be something like this: