Two Arab members of al Qaeda are reported to have been killed in yesterday’s airstrike in North Waziristan.
The airstrike, which was carried out by unmanned US attack aircraft, targeted a vehicle moving in the town of Aspangla near the main town of Miramshah. Three people were initially reported killed in the attack.
The region is a stronghold of the Haqqani Network and Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadar; both shelter al Qaeda and other jihadi terror groups. Several months ago, the Pakistani military signed a peace agreement with Bahadar to clear the path to conduct the military operation against the Movement of the Taliban in South Waziristan
Taliban fighters confirmed the death of the two Arabs and said the men were from Saudi Arabia, The News reported. The identity of the Saudi al Qaeda members could not be determined as “the car was torn into pieces.”
It is unclear if the Saudi al Qaeda members were senior leaders in the terror group. Saudi and Egyptian members of al Qaeda often serve as senior leaders for al Qaeda.
US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal would not disclose the identity of the targets of the latest strike, but stated that the effort to “degrade al Qaeda’s networks in Pakistan’s tribal areas” continues.
The US air campaign has failed to kill a senior al Qaeda or Taliban leader since September, when a series of attacks killed Najmuddin Jalolov, the leader of the Islamic Jihad Group; Mustafa al Jaziri, a member of al Qaeda’s military council; and Maulvi Ismail Khan, a military commander in the Haqqani Network. Ilyas Kashmiri, the operations commander of the Harakat-ul-Jihad-Islami and the operations chief of Brigade 313, was also thought to have been killed but he later resurfaced.
The number of US airstrikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas has decreased since September. There were only two airstrikes in October, two in November, and one this month. Prior to October, the number of strikes had averaged between six and seven per month.
The scaleback in attacks in Pakistan is attributed to the fact al Qaeda and the Taliban have adapted to the US’ tactics, improved their operational security, and have ruthlessly killed anyone suspected of providing intelligence, US intelligence officials told The Long War Journal.
3 Comments
Not convinced that this has all to do with the terrorists wisening up to the ways of the drones.
The timing of the slowdown indicates that this could well be related to the present tensions in the US-Pakistan alliance where America is basically telling the pakistanis (negotiating) to ‘step-up or step-aside’. Looks like the US’s final act of patience while cajoling the Pak army. Equally intel may well have slowed down too while the Pak army sulks and broods over Kerry-Lugar…and the prospect of fighting HAQ and going after the Quetta/Karachi shura. Its crunch-time this xmas.
Strange comment from the taliban…that these two were Saudis but they can’t identify them???
One of these days they’re going to get the chief scoundrel by his goatee….
Is it normal that there are 4-7 drones in one event according to the cited “The News” report, or is it an indication that they were hunting a real HVT?
Also i have to agree that it sounds strange that you can say it were Saudi nationals but have no clear identification.
USAF flies their drones in flights of four.
I would imagine any CIA usage is similar. The drones are doing multiple things: tracking, SIGINT, ELINT are as important as the strikes. We are interested in: What happened to tactical comms after the hits? Who is saying what to whom? Where are they? How is their OPSEC? Who picked up the bodies? Where did they take them? Where do they get buried? Who is at the burial? Where did those guys go?
Rinse and repeat.
Shooting at people is a small part of the job, I suspect.