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| India-Pakistan |
| Rave Reviews On Drone Strikes By Pak General |
| 2011-03-10 |
| Here are words that you never thought you'd hear a Pakistani general utter about the drone strikes that batter Pakistan's tribal areas: "A majority of those eliminated are terrorists, including foreign terrorist elements." That would be yawn-worthy if it came from the CIA, which never misses an opportunity to credit its drone strikes with taking out al-Qaeda and its affiliates. But it was the main message of an official briefing from Maj. Gen. Ghayur Mehmood in Miram Shah. He's the commander of Pakistan's Seventh Division, charged with leading troops in North Waziristan. "Myths and rumours about US predator strikes and the casualty figures are many," Mehmood said, according to Dawn, "but it's a reality that many of those being killed in these strikes are hardcore elements, a sizeable number of them foreigners." He even brought stats. According to the general, "about 164″ drone strikes have occurred since 2007 -- the New America Foundation tallies 226 since 2004 -- have killed "over 964 terrorists." Of those, 793 were Pakistanis and 171 were foreigners, "including Arabs, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Chechens, Filipinos and Moroccans."(Filipinos? Huh.) Only "a few civilians" have been killed, he said. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #1 (Filipinos? Huh.) Though the article's link sez Abu Sayef, it's more specifically the Moro. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2011-03-10 21:15 |