US drone strikes kill 18 in South Waziristan

Seems like drones are doing good job of taking out these killers.

http://www.dawn.com/2011/06/06/us-missile-strike-kills-6-militants-in-pakistan.html

US drone strikes kill 18 in South Waziristan
AFP
(7 hours ago) Today

US drone strikes are one of the most contentious issues between uneasy allies Pakistan and the United States, whose ties have been strained after bin Laden’s discovery in a garrison town. - File Photo

PESHAWAR: 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.

The first strike killed seven militants in the early hours in Shalam Raghzai, 10 kilometres 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, 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.

Monday’s attacks bring to 12 the number of strikes reported in Pakistan’s tribal areas since US commandos killed al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden in a raid in the garrison city of Abbottabad on May 2.

Re: US drone strikes kill 18 in South Waziristan

**it's gonna cause more rift between the right, the left and the centre.

i think the number of dead has climbed to 23**

Re: US drone strikes kill 18 in South Waziristan

^^^ Probably not b/c it seems like there is sharing of lintel. Even in case of Kashmiri it seems like he was traced by Pakistan and taken out by drones.

http://www.dawn.com/2011/06/06/pakistan-helped-us-target-kashmiri-reports.html

Pakistan helped US target Kashmiri: reports
By Our Correspondent | From the Newspaper

WASHINGTON: Pakistan helped the United States locate Ilyas Kashmiri who was killed this weekend by an American drone in South Waziristan, the US media reported on Sunday.

The Washington Post reported that the Al Qaeda commander, who also headed a group called Harkatul Jihad al Islami, was on a list of terrorist leaders the United States gave to Pakistan last month.

The New York Times reported that Kashmiri’s death “could go some way to alleviating the strained relations” between Pakistan and the US, particularly after the covert raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad.

After Bin Laden’s death, the US media projected Kashmiri as “the next Bin Laden” and serious contender for the top slot in Al Qaeda. A congressional publication called The Hill noted that “when combined with the Bin Laden killing, eliminating Kashmiri via a remotely piloted drone could give new fuel” to the increasing number of US lawmakers who say the US needs a “a small but lethally tailored” force in Afghanistan, not tens of thousands of conventional troops.

Headley wanted to travel undercover to Fata to present Kashmiri with an ornate sword that could be fitted with a homing device to set up a US missile attack, according to his testimony before a Chicago court. Headley also told the court about a possible plot by Kashmiri to kill the CEO of defence manufacturer Lockheed Martin because he thought the company makes the predator drones.

Meanwhile, some US media outlets published an interview with a Punjabi Taliban leader, Qari Mohammad Idrees. Qari Idrees said Kashmiri was sitting with friends at an apple orchard when he came under attack. Two missiles hit the same place where the militant commander and his men were sitting.
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