The US launched a covert airstrike against a Taliban safe house in Pakistan’s Taliban-controlled tribal agency of South Waziristan.
An unmanned Predator strike aircraft fired two Hellfire missiles at a Taliban safehouse and a vehicle in the town of Kanigoram, which is just 15 miles northeast of the main town of Wana. Ten Taliban fighters and foreigners, a term used to describe al Qaeda, were killed in the strike, Geo News reported. No senior Taliban or al Qaeda leaders have been reported killed at this time.
The town of Wana is a stronghold of South Waziristan Taliban commander Mullah Nazir, a former rival and now ally of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. The US targeted Nazir and Tahir Yuldashev, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, in a strike near Wana on Nov. 7. Nazir was wounded in the attack. Yuldashev’s status is still unknown, but it is believed he survived the attack. But Kanigoram is in territory controlled by Baitullah Mehsud.
The US is on pace to exceed last year’s total of 36 airstrikes in Pakistan. Today’s strike is the fifth this month and the sixteenth inside Pakistan this year. The last attack took place on April 19 in the town of Gangi Khel, which is also near the town of Wana. The region is a known Taliban and al Qaeda hotbed.
The Pakistani government officially protests the Predator strikes, but behind the scenes the government allows the attacks and the military passes some intelligence to US intelligence to target Taliban leaders. US Predators are based in Pakistan and are operated by the CIA.
Today’s attack takes place as the Pakistani military is conducting operations against the Taliban in Dir and Buner.
Baitullah Mehsud lead alliance against the Pakistani governemnt and the West
Today’s strike is the seventh recorded attack against camps and compounds in Baitullah’s tribal areas. The last attack in Baitullah’s territory took place on March 26. Eight terrorists, including Arabs, were reported killed in the attack in Baitullah’s home town of Madeen.
Baitullah is the leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban, or the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, a group established in December of 2007 to unite disparate Taliban groups in Pakistan’sThe northwest. The Tehrik-e-Taliban has led the insurgency and conducted many of the terror attacks against the Pakistani government.
In February, Baitullah put aside tribal rivalries and joined forces with senior Taliban leaders Hafiz Gul Bahadar and Mullah Nazir in February of this year to form the Council of United Mujahideen. The three leaders said they “united according to the wishes of Mujahideen leaders like Mullah Muhammad Omar and Sheikh Osama bin Laden.”.
The Council of United Mujahideen had pamphlets distributed throughout North and South Waziristan to announce its formation. The council threatened to strike at the US and other countries. The pamphlets also said the Taliban alliance “supported Mullah Muhammad Omar and Osama bin Laden’s struggle” against the administrations of US President Barack Obama, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
The new alliance further stated it was waging war “in an organized manner'” to “stop the infidels from carrying out acts of barbarism against innocent people” just as Omar and bin Laden were waging war against Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the US.
Baitullah has close ties to al Qaeda and maintains safe houses and training camps for the terror group. He also hosts camps and safe houses for the Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistani terror group allied with al Qaeda and the Taliban, and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and anti-Shia group that serves as al Qaeda’s muscle.
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Click map for full view. Taliban presence, by district and tribal agency, in the Northwest Frontier Province, Punjab, and the Federally Administered Tribal Agencies. Information on Taliban presence obtained from open source and derived by The Long War Journal based on the presence of Taliban shadow governments, levels of fighting, and reports from the region. Map created by Bill Raymond for The Long War Journal. Last updated: April 24, 2009. |
Background on US strikes against al Qaeda and Taliban networks in northwestern Pakistan
US intelligence believes that al Qaeda has reconstituted its external operations network in Pakistan’s lawless, Taliban-controlled tribal areas. This network is tasked with hitting targets in the West, India, and elsewhere. The US has struck at these external cells using unmanned Predator aircraft and other means in an effort to disrupt al Qaeda’s external network and decapitate the leadership. The US has also targeted al Qaeda-linked Taliban fighters operating in Afghanistan, particularly the notorious Haqqani Network.
As of last summer, al Qaeda and the Taliban operated 157 known training camps in the tribal areas and the Northwest Frontier Province. Al Qaeda has been training terrorists holding Western passports to conduct attacks, US intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal. Some of the camps are devoted to training the Taliban’s military arm; some train suicide bombers for attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan; some focus on training the various Kashmiri terror groups; some train al Qaeda operatives for attacks in the West; some train the Lashkar al Zil, al Qaeda’s Shadow Army; and one serves as a training ground for the Black Guard, the elite bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahiri, and other senior al Qaeda leaders.
There were 36 recorded cross-border attacks and attempts in Pakistan during 2008, according to numbers compiled by The Long War Journal. Twenty-nine of those attacks took place after Aug. 31. There were only 10 recorded strikes in 2006 and 2007 combined.
During 2008, the US strikes inside Pakistan’s tribal areas killed five senior al Qaeda leaders. All of the leaders were involved in supporting al Qaeda’s external operations directed at the West.
Abu Laith al Libi, a senior military commander in Afghanistan, was killed in a strike in North Waziristan in January 2008.
Abu Sulayman Jazairi, al Qaeda’s external operations chief, was killed in a strike in Bajaur in March 2008.
Abu Khabab al Masri, al Qaeda’s weapons of mass destruction chief, and several senior members of his staff were killed in a strike in South Waziristan in July 2008.
Khalid Habib, the leader of al Qaeda’s paramilitary Shadow Army, was killed in a region controlled by Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan in October 2008.
Abu Jihad al Masri, the leader of the Egyptian Islamic Group and member of al Qaeda’s top council, was also killed in North Waziristan in October 2008.
In 2009, US strikes have killed two senior, long-time al Qaeda leaders. Osama al Kini and his senior aide, Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, were killed in a New Year’s Day strike in South Waziristan. Kini was al Qaeda operations chief in Pakistan. Both men were behind the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, which killed 224 civilians and wounded more than 5,000 others.
US attacks inside Pakistan during 2009:
• US strike kills 10 Taliban in South Waziristan
April 29, 2009
• US airstrike targets Taliban training camp in South Waziristan
April 19, 2009
• US Predator kills four in South Waziristan strike
April 8, 2009
• US strikes Haqqani Network in North Waziristan
April 4, 2009
• US launches first strike in Arakzai tribal agency
April 1, 2009
• Latest US strike targets al Qaeda safe house in North Waziristan
March 26, 2009
• US airstrike kills 8 in Baitullah Mehsud’s hometown
March 25, 2009
• US launches second strike outside of Pakistan’s tribal areas
March 15, 2009
• US missile strike in Kurram agency kills 14
March 12, 2009
• US airstrike kills 8 in South Waziristan
March 1, 2009
• US airstrike in Pakistan’s Kurram tribal agency kills 30
Feb. 16, 2009
• US Predator strike in South Waziristan kills 25
Feb. 14, 2009
• US strikes al Qaeda in North and South Waziristan
Jan. 23, 2009
• US hits South Waziristan in second strike
Jan. 2, 2009
• US kills 4 al Qaeda operatives in South Waziristan strike
Jan. 1, 2009
For a summary of US strikes inside Pakistan in 2008, see US strikes in 2 villages in South Waziristan.
15 Comments
Bill,
I think it might be worthwhile to start showing detailed districts within Punjab bordering NWFP as well. It might help readers understand which areas will Taliban target in Punjab (if and when they target them).
Great posts as always – my one stop shop for reading all about the AfPak war.
Thanks,
dude40000
Thank you for the kind words. I had attached the wrong, older version of the map. Try taking a look again, that will have some of the Punjab districts and Baluchistan as well. Bill Raymond and I are working to improve this.
Bill,
Thanks for updating the map such quickly.
I always wonder why is Taliban not trying to capture Peshawar first, especially since Peshawar borders Orkazai, Mohmand and Khyber (all strong Taliban agencies).
-dude40000
I completely agree with dude40000
Seriously, why doesn’t the Pak Army punch and maintain a corridor of control in Peshawar and Khyber? The Taliban attacks on NATO convoys would sure go down. …but that would make too much sense.
Recent articles from Dawn and the News say that the Punjabi districts of DG Khan, Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur, Rajanpur, Muzaffargarh, Mianwali, and Bhakkar are coming under Taliban influence.
Apart from Zhob, which Baloch districts are affected by the Taliban?
Steve,
Pakistan army has bigger problems at hand closer to Islamabad than punching holes in Peshawar first for securing NATO supplies.
To use an analogy before Pak Army starts to solve world hunger – it has to solve the hunger problem 60 miles from Islamabad.
– dude40000
This article makes it sound like most of the killed were in a pickup truck. Pretty impressive when your intelligence is that good.
Dawn: Six dead in suspected US drone attack
Another report has a higher death toll.
Geo TV: U.S. strikes kill 10 in South Waziristan
Bill, Koniguram is the traditional capital of the Mahsuds. Wana is in Utmanzai Darwish Khel Wazir territory… It is about 25-20 km NE or ENE of Wana. So Wana is the territory of Commander Nazir; Koniguram that of Baitullah Mahsud and his rivals. Neither the Mahsuds, or their cousins are united on anything but the Mahsuds traditionaly have shown a much greater ability to unite for war than the Wazirs. The Brits called the Mahsuds “wolves” and the Wazirs “panthers” because of this.
GW,
“Neither the Mahsuds, or their cousins are united on anything”
What is the cause of the division? Is it over land, money, drugs, religion or all of the above?
The reason is Pashtunwali, the code which defines a Pashtun….Pashtun society is intensely “democratic” (per the Brits) which means anarchic. No Pashtun will admit to submitting themselves to anyone except in an emergency. That’s an exaggeration of course…The Turi in Kurram Agency, Shi’a, do unit to fight for their existenct…but for the Wazirs this is especially true. Your worst enemies are your own kin who want to take your little plot of land.
Well the Durrani Pashtuns…Saddozai Poppalzai first and then Mohammadzai Barakzai ruled Afghanistan from 1750 to 1978…but with an iron hand….it was the only way to deal with their kin.
gw,
Thank you for the correction, I updated the article and noted the correction to reflect this. Now I need to figure out how I misread my map. Again, the correction is greatly appreciated.
Bill, roads are missing from the map which i feel are vital to understand the missions. Adding few vital roads would enhance the value of maps. Regards.
GOOD WORK TROOPS!!!
Great Work Troops!
I echo Dude 40000s comments – my one stop shop for relevant, intelligent info!