| Submit your comments on this article |
| India-Pakistan |
| Militants' commander among 16 killed in NWA drone attack |
| 2010-06-20 |
| [Geo News] A US drone attack destroyed an Al-Qaeda hideout in North Waziristan, killing 16 militants including a key militants' commander Abu Ahmed Saturday in the tribal redoubt on the Afghan border, Geo News reported. The aircraft fired two missiles into the compound in Inzarabad village, 25 kilometres (15 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, known as a hub of Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants. The compound had been used by Al-Qaeda operatives, source said. It was the first US drone attack reported since twin strikes 12 hours apart killed 14 militants east of Miranshah on June 11. 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. More than 900 people have been killed in over 100 drone strikes in Pakistan since August 2008. On June 1, Al-Qaeda said its number three leader and Osama bin Laden""s one-time treasurer Mustafa Abu al-Yazid had been killed, in what security officials said was an apparent drone strike in North Waziristan. Washington has branded Pakistan""s northwestern tribal area a global headquarters of Al-Qaeda and officials say it is home to Islamist extremists who plan attacks on US-led troops in Afghanistan and on cities abroad. Waziristan came under renewed scrutiny when Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-American charged over an attempted bombing in New York on May 1, allegedly told US interrogators he went there for bomb training. The United States has been increasing pressure on Pakistan to crack down on Islamist havens along the Afghan border. Pakistani commanders have not ruled out an offensive in North Waziristan, but argue that gains in South Waziristan and the northwestern district of Swat need to be consolidated to prevent troops from being stretched too thinly. |
| Posted by:Fred |