Pakistan's Descent into Chaos: Terrorist & Drone Attacks
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Pakistan drone attack kills eight in North Waziristan
14 September 2010 Last updated at 09:16 GMT
Eight militants died when missiles fired by a suspected US drone hit a house in north-western Pakistan, local security officials say.
They said the raid targeted a militant hideout in Shawal district in the North Waziristan region on the Afghan border.
It is the 10th drone strike this month in the region, a stronghold of the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
The attacks have killed hundreds of people since January 2009 and fuelled anti-American sentiment in the country.
An official in Miranshah, North Waziristan's main town, told the BBC that three people where injured in the attack.
He said all the dead and injured belonged to the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group of Taliban which dominates the area.
Local residents told the BBC that at least six missiles were fired and that the drones kept hovering over the area for some time after the strike.
Pakistan publicly objects to the strikes, but analysts believe such raids have the private backing of officials.
The American military does not routinely confirm drone operations, but analysts say the US is the only force capable of deploying such aircraft in the region.
14 September 2010 Last updated at 09:16 GMT
Eight militants died when missiles fired by a suspected US drone hit a house in north-western Pakistan, local security officials say.
They said the raid targeted a militant hideout in Shawal district in the North Waziristan region on the Afghan border.
It is the 10th drone strike this month in the region, a stronghold of the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
The attacks have killed hundreds of people since January 2009 and fuelled anti-American sentiment in the country.
An official in Miranshah, North Waziristan's main town, told the BBC that three people where injured in the attack.
He said all the dead and injured belonged to the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group of Taliban which dominates the area.
Local residents told the BBC that at least six missiles were fired and that the drones kept hovering over the area for some time after the strike.
Pakistan publicly objects to the strikes, but analysts believe such raids have the private backing of officials.
The American military does not routinely confirm drone operations, but analysts say the US is the only force capable of deploying such aircraft in the region.
US drone strike kills 11 militants in Pakistan
By Hasbanullah Khan (AFP) – 9 hours ago
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan — US drones fired off a volley of missiles targeting Al-Qaeda linked fighters in a tribal area of northwest Pakistan Wednesday, killing at least 11 militants, security officials said.
The pre-dawn attack -- the third in less than 24 hours -- was directed at the Haqqani network, a Pakistan-based group which is one of the toughest foes for foreign forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.
"Several US drones fired seven missiles at two militant compounds early this morning, killing at least 11 militants," a senior security official told AFP. "The missile strike targeted militants of the Haqqani network."
The attack took place in the village of Dargah Mandi village on the outskirts of Miranshah, the main town in the troubled North Waziristan tribal district where US missiles killed 15 militants in two separate attacks Tuesday.
Another security official in Peshawar and a local intelligence official confirmed Wednesday's strike and the death toll.
"They were Pakistani Taliban attached to the Haqqani group," the intelligence official in Miranshah said.
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 told AFP, 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.
Created by Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani and run by his son Sirajuddin, the network is linked to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban and has become a particularly prickly thorn in the side of US-led forces trying to bring security to eastern Afghanistan.
A fresh surge in US missile strikes has killed 75 militants since September 3 in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt, which Washington has branded a global headquarters of Al-Qaeda and the most dangerous spot on Earth.
On Tuesday, 11 militants were killed in a drone attack on the village of Bushnarai in Shawal district, a known stronghold of Taliban warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur which is populated by Arab fighters.
Another four militants were killed that day in Qutabkhel village south of Miranshah when US drones fired missiles on militant vehicles, officials said.
With Pakistan struggling to cope with devastating floods that have hit 21 million people in the country's worst humanitarian disaster, Islamist militant violence has picked up in recent weeks with a wave of major bombings.
The Taliban last week threatened Pakistani security forces with more suicide attacks to avenge US missile strikes, which have become a key tactic in the US-led fight to reverse the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.
An Islamist militant bombing campaign has killed more than 3,700 people and fanned instability across nuclear-armed Pakistan since July 2007.
Under US pressure to crack down on Islamist havens along the Afghan border, Pakistan has in the past year stepped up military operations against largely homegrown militants in the area.
Officials in Washington say the drone strikes have killed a number of high-value targets including Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud and help protect foreign troops in Afghanistan from attacks plotted across the border.
The US military does not as a rule confirm drone attacks, but its armed forces and the Central Intelligence Agency operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy pilotless drones in the region.
Over 1,070 people have been killed in more than 125 drone strikes in Pakistan since August 2008, including a number of senior militants. However, the attacks fuel anti-American sentiment in the conservative Muslim country.
Al-Qaeda announced in June that its number three leader and Osama bin Laden's one-time treasurer Mustafa Abu al-Yazid had been killed in what security officials said appeared to be a drone strike in North Waziristan.
US missile strike kills 5 militants in Pakistan
By RASOOL DAWAR (AP) – 19 September 2010 ,4 hours ago
MIR ALI, Pakistan — A suspected U.S. drone fired three missiles at a house in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing five alleged militants in the 14th such attack this month — the most intense barrage since the strikes began in 2004, said intelligence officials.
The house belonged to a local militant and was located in Datta Khel, a town in the North Waziristan tribal area that is controlled by militants who regularly launch cross-border attacks against NATO troops in Afghanistan, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media.
The exact identities of the militants were not known. But U.S. and Pakistani intelligence officials have said most of this month's strikes have targeted forces led by Jalaluddin Haqqani, a commander who was once supported by Pakistan and the U.S. during the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan.
Haqqani has since turned against the U.S., and American military officials have said his network presents the greatest threat to foreign forces in Afghanistan.
The U.S. has pressured Pakistan to launch a military offensive against the network, but Pakistani officials have pushed back — a move that many analysts believe is driven by their desire to maintain their historical relationship with the group, which could be an ally in Afghanistan after foreign forces withdraw.
Without a Pakistani offensive, the U.S. has had to rely on CIA-operated drone strikes to target the network, which is based in North Waziristan and adjacent areas in Afghanistan.
Including Sunday's attack, fourteen missile strikes have killed more than 65 people since Sept. 2, according to an Associated Press tally based on Pakistani intelligence officials' reports. Many have struck in and around Datta Khel, which has a population of about 40,000 people and sits on a strategically vital road to the Afghan border.
U.S. officials do not publicly acknowledge the missile strikes but have said privately that they have killed several senior Taliban and al-Qaida militants and scores of foot soldiers in the region that is largely out of the control of the Pakistani state.
Pakistani officials often criticize the strikes as a violation of the country's sovereignty, but the government is widely believed to help the U.S. carry out the attacks and criticism has been more muted in recent months.
U.S. forces began targeting Pakistan's tribal regions with aerial drones in 2004, but the number of strikes soared in 2008 and has been steadily climbing since then, with nearly 70 attacks this year, according to an AP tally.
Until now, the highest number of airstrikes inside Pakistan in a single month had been the 11 launched in January 2010 after a suicide bomber killed a Jordanian intelligence officer and seven CIA employees at a base in Afghanistan.
Suspected US missile attacks kill 7 in NW Pakistan
By ISHTIAQ MAHSUD (AP) – 27 September 2010,1 hour ago
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — Suspected U.S. drone aircraft carried out two missile strikes against a house and a vehicle near the Afghan border in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing seven alleged militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
The U.S. is now suspected of conducting 19 such attacks this month - the most intense barrage since the strikes began in 2004. Most have targeted Datta Khel, part of the North Waziristan tribal area that is dominated by militants who regularly stage attacks against NATO troops in Afghanistan.
In the first strike Sunday, a drone fired three missiles at a house in Lwara Mandi village in Datta Khel, killing three suspected militants, said the intelligence officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Minutes later, a drone fired two missiles at a vehicle in the same area, killing four suspected militants, the officials said.
The exact identities of the seven people killed in the attacks were not known, but most of this month's strikes have targeted forces led by Jalaluddin Haqqani, a commander who was once supported by Pakistan and the U.S. during the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan.
Haqqani has since turned against the U.S., and American military officials have said his network - now effectively led by his son, Sirajuddin - presents one of the greatest threats to foreign forces in Afghanistan. Another militant commander, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, and his forces also hold sway in North Waziristan.
The U.S. wants Pakistan to launch an army offensive against insurgents in North Waziristan, but the government has resisted. Analysts believe Pakistan wants to maintain its historic relationship with the Haqqani network, which could be an ally in Afghanistan after foreign forces withdraw.
Without a Pakistani offensive, the U.S. has had to rely on CIA-operated drone strikes to target the network, which also has bases in eastern Afghanistan.
The 19 missile strikes this month have killed around 90 people, according to an Associated Press tally based on Pakistani intelligence reports.
U.S. officials do not publicly acknowledge the missile strikes but have said privately they have killed several senior Taliban and al-Qaida militants in the region, which is largely out of the control of the Pakistani state.
Pakistan often criticizes the attacks as violations of the country's sovereignty, but the government is widely believed to help the U.S. carry out the strikes. Criticism of the strikes has been more muted in recent months.
3rd U.S.drone attack reported in NW Pakistan
English.news.cn 2010-09-26 21:34:07 FeedbackPrintRSS
ISLAMABAD, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- At least two people were killed in the third U.S. drone attack launched Sunday evening in Pakistan ' s northwest tribal area of North Waziristan, reported local media.
The third attack took place in the same area of the previous two strikes launched on Sunday. Minutes before the third strike, the U.S. drones launched two strikes in the area of Miranshah of North Waziristan which borders Afghanistan.
In the first strike, the U.S. drones fired three missiles at a house located at the Datta Khel road in Miranshah, killing at least four people and injuring two others.
In the second strike, six to seven U.S. drones seen hovering over Miranshah fired five missiles at a target at the Tarmano Road in the area, killing at least three people.
So far, at least nine people were killed in Sunday's U.S. drone strikes.
The third U.S. drone strike launched Sunday accounts for the seventh of its kind over the last week, during which at least over 20 people were reportedly killed, including quite a number of militants.
Another 3 killed in 2nd U.S. drone strike in NW Pakistan
English.news.cn 2010-09-26 21:07:47 FeedbackPrintRSS
ISLAMABAD, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Another three people were killed in a second U.S. drone attack launched Sunday evening in Pakistan's northwest tribal area of North Waziristan, bringing to seven the total number of people killed in Sunday's drone strikes in the afore-said area, reported local media.
According to the report, the second U.S. drone strike came shortly after the first one which left at least four people dead and two others injured. The second strike took place in the same area of Miranshah in North Waziristan where the first strike was launched, during which three missiles were fired at a house at the Datta Khel road in Miranshah of North Waziristan .
During the second strike, five missiles were reportedly fired and six to seven U.S. drones were seen hovering over the area.
The latest U.S drone strike is the seventh of its kind launched over the past week, which killed and injured a number of people including some important militants in the country's northwest tribal area bordering Afghanistan.
U.S. drone attack kills 4 in NW Pakistan
English.news.cn 2010-09-25 17:35:30 FeedbackPrintRSS
ISLAMABAD, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- At least four persons were killed Saturday in a drone attack in North Waziristan tribal area, northwest Pakistan, local TV channels reported.
Three missiles were fired at a vehicle in Dattakhel area, near Miranshah, the center town of North Waziristan, the private TV Express reported.
U.S. drones regularly strike what it calls hideouts of the al- Qaida and Taliban militants in the region.
Waziristan is the home to Taliban leaders Hakimullah Mehsood, Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Mulla Nazir who are fighting against U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Since a suicide attack killed seven CIA employees in Afghanistan in December, covert U.S. drone attacks have tremendously increased in the volatile Waziristan tribal region.
A number of high-profile militant leaders, including Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud were killed in the drone attack in August last year.
5 killed as two explosions hit Pakistan
English.news.cn 2010-09-24 00:30:48 FeedbackPrintRSS
ISLAMABAD, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- At least five people were killed Thursday evening as two separate explosions struck Sargodha, a city in eastern Pakistani province of Punjab, and Khyber, a tribal area in the northwest, local sources said.
In Khyber, five people were killed and several injured after a blast hit a parking area in Landi Kotal, only 5 km to the Khyber pass on the border.
Sources said the explosion went off in an oil tanker bound to supply the fuel to NATO forces in Afghanistan. Three tankers parking nearby also caught fire due to the blast.
Two persons sitting in the oil tanker were killed and three others including two women were also killed in a passerby vehicle.
Security forces had the site cordoned off. All dead and injured were shifted to a nearby hospital.
Local TV channels reported a second blast near the border area in Khyber but no immediate details are available.
Meanwhile in Sargodha, an explosion has been heard near an air force base before rescue teams and ambulances rushed to the Tariq Abad locality in the city and shops were closed and the people started running to safe places, witnesses said.
Correspondents said that the huge explosion has been heard in the whole city of hundreds of thousands of people.
Regional Police Officer Mian Javed Islam said that he has not received any information about the blast.
NATO helicopters entered Pakistan to kill insurgents
Two NATO helicopters killed 30 insurgents on Pakistani soil after a rare manned pursuit across the border from Afghanistan, NATO forces said on Sunday. Skip related content
The two Apache attack helicopters from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) crossed the border from eastern Afghanistan on Friday after the insurgents attacked a remote Afghan security outpost in Khost province.
ISAF spokesman Sergeant Matt Summers confirmed that the helicopters had attacked after crossing into Pakistan. He did not comment on which countries' forces were involved, but the United States is the only coalition member that uses Apaches.
The United States regularly uses pilotless drone aircraft for missile strikes in Pakistan's borderlands, known to be a haven for militant groups including the Afghan Taliban who launch cross-border attacks from Pakistan's northwest.
However, manned military flights across the border are extremely rare.
ISAF said in a statement issued late on Sunday that the helicopters were following its rules of engagement when they crossed into Pakistan.
Two Kiowa helicopters returned to the area on Saturday and killed at least four more insurgents, the statement said.
ISAF was not immediately able to confirm whether the Kiowa helicopters had also crossed the border. U.S. forces make up the majority of ISAF troops in Afghanistan's east.
The drone flights have caused resentment in overwhelmingly Muslim Pakistan, where anti-American feeling runs high.
U.S. officials say the pilotless drones are one of the most effective weapons against militants. The strikes have killed senior Taliban and al Qaeda figures.
A new book by veteran U.S. journalist Bob Woodward claims that the Central Intelligence Agency also has a 3,000-man "covert army" of elite, well-trained Afghans, who conduct secret operations in Pakistan, according to the Washington Post.
The newspaper obtained an advance copy of the book, which is due for release on Monday.
Despite the presence of almost 150,000 foreign troops, violence is at its worst across Afghanistan since U.S.-backed Afghan forces ousted the Taliban in late 2001.
The Taliban-led insurgency has spread out of traditional strongholds in the south and east into once relatively stable areas in the north and west.
Apart from the Afghan Taliban, the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network also operates extensively in Afghanistan's east and has launched a series of bold attacks against foreign forces and Afghan government targets in the past year.
U.S. Drone Strikes Kill 14 in Pakistan
By REUTERS
Published: October 2, 2010
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Filed at 9:06 a.m. ET
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (Reuters) - Two U.S. drone attacks killed 18 militants in Pakistan on Saturday, intelligence officials said, after recent NATO incursions raised tensions with an ally critical to Washington's war effort in Afghanistan.
The United States has escalated pilotless drone aircraft missile strikes against al Qaeda-linked militants in Pakistan's northwest, with 21 attacks in September alone, the highest number in a single month on record.
Angered by repeated incursions by NATO helicopters over the past week, Pakistan blocked a supply route for coalition troops in Afghanistan after one such strike killed three Pakistani soldiers on Thursday in the northwestern Kurram region.
Taliban militants threatened to attack more tankers carrying fuel to Afghanistan over that route after three dozen of the vehicles were set on fire in south Pakistan on Friday.
The United States needs Pakistan as it scrambles to contain a raging Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan before U.S. troops start withdrawing in July 2011.
Border incursions and disruptions in NATO supplies underline growing tensions in the relationship.
On Saturday, two drone attacks within hours of each other killed 18 militants in Datta Khel town in North Waziristan tribal region along the Afghan border, intelligence officials said.
"In the first attack two missiles were fired at a house while in the second attack four missiles targeted a house and a vehicle. The death toll in the two attacks reached 18," said one intelligence official. At least six foreigners were killed in the first strike.
There was no independent confirmation of the attacks and militants often dispute official death tolls.
A large number of Arab, Chechan and Central Asian insurgents have taken shelter with Pakistani militants in the lawless tribal regions on the Afghan border after fleeing the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan in late 2001.
U.S. officials say drones are valuable weapons which have killed high-profile Taliban and al Qaeda figures in an area in northwest Pakistan described as a global hub for militants.
Pakistan worries the strikes undermine efforts to deal with militancy because civilian casualties inflame public anger and bolster support for the fighters.
Elimination of high-profile targets could not be possible without Pakistani intelligence, however, analysts say.
Homegrown Taliban fighters continue to carry out attacks including suicide bombings despite a series of military offensives officials say have weakened them.
A Taliban spokesman, Azam Tariq, told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location militants had attacked the NATO supply trucks in southern Sindh province on Friday to avenge NATO incursions.
The al Qaeda-linked group would carry out more attacks on tankers on all roads used to transport NATO supplies, not just the one closed by Pakistani authorities.
(Writing by Augustine Anthony; Editing by Michael Georgy and Sugita Katyal)
By REUTERS
Published: October 2, 2010
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Filed at 9:06 a.m. ET
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (Reuters) - Two U.S. drone attacks killed 18 militants in Pakistan on Saturday, intelligence officials said, after recent NATO incursions raised tensions with an ally critical to Washington's war effort in Afghanistan.
The United States has escalated pilotless drone aircraft missile strikes against al Qaeda-linked militants in Pakistan's northwest, with 21 attacks in September alone, the highest number in a single month on record.
Angered by repeated incursions by NATO helicopters over the past week, Pakistan blocked a supply route for coalition troops in Afghanistan after one such strike killed three Pakistani soldiers on Thursday in the northwestern Kurram region.
Taliban militants threatened to attack more tankers carrying fuel to Afghanistan over that route after three dozen of the vehicles were set on fire in south Pakistan on Friday.
The United States needs Pakistan as it scrambles to contain a raging Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan before U.S. troops start withdrawing in July 2011.
Border incursions and disruptions in NATO supplies underline growing tensions in the relationship.
On Saturday, two drone attacks within hours of each other killed 18 militants in Datta Khel town in North Waziristan tribal region along the Afghan border, intelligence officials said.
"In the first attack two missiles were fired at a house while in the second attack four missiles targeted a house and a vehicle. The death toll in the two attacks reached 18," said one intelligence official. At least six foreigners were killed in the first strike.
There was no independent confirmation of the attacks and militants often dispute official death tolls.
A large number of Arab, Chechan and Central Asian insurgents have taken shelter with Pakistani militants in the lawless tribal regions on the Afghan border after fleeing the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan in late 2001.
U.S. officials say drones are valuable weapons which have killed high-profile Taliban and al Qaeda figures in an area in northwest Pakistan described as a global hub for militants.
Pakistan worries the strikes undermine efforts to deal with militancy because civilian casualties inflame public anger and bolster support for the fighters.
Elimination of high-profile targets could not be possible without Pakistani intelligence, however, analysts say.
Homegrown Taliban fighters continue to carry out attacks including suicide bombings despite a series of military offensives officials say have weakened them.
A Taliban spokesman, Azam Tariq, told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location militants had attacked the NATO supply trucks in southern Sindh province on Friday to avenge NATO incursions.
The al Qaeda-linked group would carry out more attacks on tankers on all roads used to transport NATO supplies, not just the one closed by Pakistani authorities.
(Writing by Augustine Anthony; Editing by Michael Georgy and Sugita Katyal)
Suicide bombers strike Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine
Thursday, 07 Oct, 2010
KARACHI: Two suicide bombers struck Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi.
Atleast ten people have been killed while fifteen injured. Emergency has been declared in all hospitals, Police said.
Many people are also believed to have been wounded.
Police official Jam Tariq said the blasts occurred Thursday evening at the Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine near the coast of the Arabian Sea.
Several attacks have targeted Pakistan's mosques and shrines in recent years, many of them blamed on militant groups. – AP/DawnNews
Two Drone strikes kill 9 in North Waziristan
08/10/2010
At least 9 people were killed in two US drone strikes in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan on Friday evening.
A day earlier, four people were killed when a drone fired two missiles at a house in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan.
Drone attacks reached unprecedented levels this month. Since US President Barack Obama came into office, there have been more than 143 drone attacks, with about 58 strikes in 2009 (after January 20) and around 85 in 2010.
Drone attacks have stoked anti-American sentiment in the country with many saying they violate Pakistan's sovereignty.
08/10/2010
At least 9 people were killed in two US drone strikes in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan on Friday evening.
A day earlier, four people were killed when a drone fired two missiles at a house in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan.
Drone attacks reached unprecedented levels this month. Since US President Barack Obama came into office, there have been more than 143 drone attacks, with about 58 strikes in 2009 (after January 20) and around 85 in 2010.
Drone attacks have stoked anti-American sentiment in the country with many saying they violate Pakistan's sovereignty.
US drone strike in Pakistan 'kills seven militants'
10 October 2010 Last updated at 09:05 GMT
At least seven people have been killed in a missile strike in north-west Pakistan, security officials say.
Unconfirmed reports said a US drone fired four missiles at a compound in North Waziristan and two cars parked outside were destroyed.
In a separate development, a key border crossing used by Nato to move supplies into Afghanistan has been reopened.
The border had been shut when two Pakistani soldiers were killed in a US helicopter strike.The closure of the Torkham crossing prompted the Taliban in Pakistan to launch a series of raids on stranded Nato convoys.
The Pakistani government agreed to re-open the border on Saturday, following a US apology for its soldiers' deaths.
Al-Qaeda European 'plot'
The latest drone strike came as the US military stepped up its attacks on militant targets in the tribal areas near the Afghan border.
The upsurge is reportedly intended partially to halt an alleged al-Qaeda plot to attack European cities. Earlier this month, five German nationals died in a drone strike linked to the plot.
Sunday's drone attack was said to have first attacked a camp housing Afghan refugees close to the town of Mir Ali, destroying a house and two cars.
Minutes later, two people were killed in a missile attack close to a river bank outside the camp, Associated Press reports.
Although the target of the raid is not clear, the area is said to be dominated by a militant group that regularly attacks troops with the Nato-led force in Afghanistan.
US missiles strikes kill 11 in Pakistan
Wednesday, 13 Oct, 2010
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Intelligence officials say four suspected US missiles strikes have killed 11 militants in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border.
The officials say the strikes occurred Wednesday in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan tribal region.
The first attack targeted a house in Lataka village, killing four militants. Minutes later, a drone attacked a vehicle nearby, killing two foreign militants.
Another attack 15 minutes later against a second vehicle killed three militants.
The final attack occurred a half-hour later and targeted militants collecting bodies from the house destroyed in the first strike. The attack killed two militants.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to media.—AP
US drone attacks kill four in North Waziristan
Friday, 15 Oct, 2010
MIR ALI: US drone attacks killed four suspected militants in the North Waziristan tribal region on Friday.
The missiles were fired in two drone attacks in the Mir Ali district of North Waziristan, a DawnNews report said.
Two missiles were fired at Machi Khel village in the district that is considered the biggest fortress of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants in Pakistan.
Senior security officials said the target was a vehicle but two local intelligence officials said the target was a house in the village.
"At least four militants were killed. The US drone fired two missiles. The target was a vehicle," one of the senior officials told AFP.
Local security officials said the missiles destroyed a house and put the death toll at five.
5 Pakistani soldiers killed in Taliban attack in northwest
Islamabad, Oct 15 2010 (PTI) Five Pakistani soldiers were killed today by Taliban militants who attacked a security check post in the South Waziristan tribal region in the country's restive northwest.
The militants targeted the check post in Sararogha area, TV news channels reported.
The security forces launched a counter attack and inflicted losses on the militants.
The Taliban attack came hours after a US drone killed at least four militants in North Waziristan tribal region. The drone hit a vehicle near Mirali, a key town in North Waziristan.
Pakistan's military launched an offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan in October last year and announced a victory earlier this year, saying it had flushed militants from the region.
South Waziristan is the main base of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and its founder Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a drone strike in the region last year.
A majority of militants fled South Waziristan after the army launched its offensive and took shelter in neighbouring North Waziristan and Orakzai tribal regions.
Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq said this month that militants have returned to South Waziristan and would again launch attacks on the security forces.
US drones regularly strike suspected militant hideouts.
There were almost two dozen strikes last month and 16 so far this month.
On October 10, US drones fired missiles in North Waziristan and killed at least seven persons.
A day earlier, a drone hit a house in Datta Khel area of North Waziristan and killed at least five people.
Since a suicide bomber linked to the Pakistani Taliban killed seven CIA operatives in Afghanistan in December last year, US drone attacks have significantly increased in Waziristan tribal region.
Waziristan is the home of Taliban leaders Hakimullah Mehsud, Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Mullah Nazir.
Islamabad, Oct 15 2010 (PTI) Five Pakistani soldiers were killed today by Taliban militants who attacked a security check post in the South Waziristan tribal region in the country's restive northwest.
The militants targeted the check post in Sararogha area, TV news channels reported.
The security forces launched a counter attack and inflicted losses on the militants.
The Taliban attack came hours after a US drone killed at least four militants in North Waziristan tribal region. The drone hit a vehicle near Mirali, a key town in North Waziristan.
Pakistan's military launched an offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan in October last year and announced a victory earlier this year, saying it had flushed militants from the region.
South Waziristan is the main base of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and its founder Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a drone strike in the region last year.
A majority of militants fled South Waziristan after the army launched its offensive and took shelter in neighbouring North Waziristan and Orakzai tribal regions.
Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq said this month that militants have returned to South Waziristan and would again launch attacks on the security forces.
US drones regularly strike suspected militant hideouts.
There were almost two dozen strikes last month and 16 so far this month.
On October 10, US drones fired missiles in North Waziristan and killed at least seven persons.
A day earlier, a drone hit a house in Datta Khel area of North Waziristan and killed at least five people.
Since a suicide bomber linked to the Pakistani Taliban killed seven CIA operatives in Afghanistan in December last year, US drone attacks have significantly increased in Waziristan tribal region.
Waziristan is the home of Taliban leaders Hakimullah Mehsud, Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Mullah Nazir.
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