US Predators killed three Haqqani Network fighters in North Waziristan who were loyal to a top leader killed in a similar strike two weeks ago.
The unmanned CIA-operated Predators, or the more deadly Reapers, fired a pair of missiles at a compound in the village of Darpakhel Sarai in the Miramshah area of North Waziristan, according to AFP.
The identities of the three militants killed were not disclosed. The men are said to be loyal to Jan Baz Zadran, the senior Haqqani Network leader who is also known as Jalil Haqqani. No senior Taliban, Haqqani Network, or al Qaeda leaders are reported to have been killed.
Jan Baz, whom US intelligence officials have described as the Haqqani Network’s third in command, was killed in a Predator strike in Danda Darpa Khel on Oct. 13. Jan Baz is the most senior Haqqani Network leader killed or captured in either Pakistan or Afghanistan since the US invaded Afghanistan in 2001. He was killed just two weeks after the Haqqani Network’s top leader in Afghanistan was captured by US Special Operations forces in Paktia province.
The US has stepped up pressure on the Haqqani Network, which operates in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and is linked to both al Qaeda and the Pakistani military and the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate. The Haqqani Network supports and shelters a constellation of regional and international terror group groups in North Waziristan, and fights NATO and Afghan forces across the border [for more information on the Haqqani Network, see LWJ report, US adds senior Haqqani Network leader to terrorist list].
The Predator strikes, by the numbers
Today’s strike is the sixth in a recent flurry of attacks. In the past eight days, the US has launched four attacks in North Waziristan and two attacks in South Waziristan. Today’s strike is the first this month.
The US carried out nine drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas last month, killing several top al Qaeda, Taliban, and Haqqani Network commanders [see LWJ report, 2 senior al Qaeda leaders killed in recent drone strikes in Pakistan].
Over the past year, the pace of the US strikes has been uneven, but the monthly strike totals have generally decreased. From January through September 2011, the strikes in Pakistan were as follows: nine strikes in January, three in February, seven in March, two in April, seven in May, 12 in June, three in July, six in August, four in September, and nine in October. In the last four months of 2010, the US averaged almost 16 strikes per month (21 in September, 16 in October, 14 in November, and 12 in December).
So far this year, the US has carried out 63 strikes in Pakistan. In 2010, the US carried out 117 strikes, which was more than double the number of strikes that had occurred in 2009; by late August 2010, the US had exceeded 2009’s strike total of 53 with a strike in Kurram. In 2008, the US carried out a total of 36 strikes inside Pakistan. [For up-to-date charts on the US air campaign in Pakistan, see LWJ Special Report, Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 – 2011.]
In 2010 the strikes were concentrated almost exclusively in North Waziristan, where the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, the Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, and a host of Pakistani and Central and South Asian terror groups are based. All but 13 of the 117 strikes took place North Waziristan. Of the 13 strikes occurring outside of North Waziristan in 2010, seven were in South Waziristan, five were in Khyber, and one was in Kurram.
This year, that pattern has changed, as an increasing number of strikes are taking place in South Waziristan. So far in 2011, 23 of the 62 strikes have taken place in South Waziristan, 38 strikes were in North Waziristan, and one was in Kurram.
The US campaign in northwestern Pakistan has targeted top al Qaeda leaders, al Qaeda’s external operations network, and Taliban leaders and fighters who threaten both the Afghan and Pakistani states as well as support al Qaeda’s external operations. The campaign has been largely successful in focusing on terrorist targets and avoiding civilian casualties, as recently affirmed by the Pakistani military.
For a list of al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in the US air campaign in Pakistan, see LWJ Special Report, Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 – 2011.
2 Comments
Watched a documentary on BBC2 last night which showed an American journalist who was kidnapped in Pakistan and brought to North Waziristan.There he said Taliban ruled in front of Pakistani soldiers.When he escaped from his kidnappers the guards were tortured from the ISI for letting him go!
Paul D: What are you saying? Please rephrase.