Suspected US drones kill 20 in Pakistan
Source: Agencies |
January 18, 2010, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AT least one suspected United States drone fired on a house in Pakistan's volatile tribal region yesterday, killing 20 people in the 11th such attack since militants in the area orchestrated a deadly suicide bombing against the CIA in Afghanistan, intelligence officials said.
Four missiles slammed into the house in the Shaktoi area of South Waziristan, the same region where a drone strike on Thursday targeted a meeting of militant commanders in an apparently unsuccessful attempt to kill Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud.
The militant leader helped organize the December 30 attack against a remote CIA base in Afghanistan's Khost province that killed seven of the agency's employees and appeared in a video alongside the Jordanian man who carried out the bombing.
Analysts suspect the Haqqani network, an al-Qaida-linked Afghan Taliban faction based in North Waziristan, also helped carry out the CIA attack, the worst against the spy agency in decades.
Since the bombing, the US has carried out 11 suspected drone strikes in North and South Waziristan, an unprecedented volley of attacks since the CIA-led program began in earnest in Pakistan two years ago.
The house targeted in yesterday's attack was being used by Usman Jan, the head of the al-Qaida-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, intelligence officials said.
Five Uzbeks were killed in the strike, but it was unclear if Jan was among them. Jan's predecessor, Tahir Yuldash, was also killed in a drone strike in South Waziristan last year.
The other 15 people killed in yesterday's strike were Pakistani Taliban, said the officials. Four more militants were seriously wounded, but their identities were unknown.
The Pakistani government publicly condemns the strikes as violations of its sovereignty.
Mehsud issued an audio message on Saturday denying he was killed in the January 14 drone strike that Pakistani intelligence officials said targeted him in Shaktoi, which lies along the border between North and South Waziristan.
"Let me clarify that I was neither wounded nor martyred in this attack, nor was I present in this attack," said Mehsud in a message that Pakistani Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq played for an Associated Press reporter.
Four missiles slammed into the house in the Shaktoi area of South Waziristan, the same region where a drone strike on Thursday targeted a meeting of militant commanders in an apparently unsuccessful attempt to kill Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud.
The militant leader helped organize the December 30 attack against a remote CIA base in Afghanistan's Khost province that killed seven of the agency's employees and appeared in a video alongside the Jordanian man who carried out the bombing.
Analysts suspect the Haqqani network, an al-Qaida-linked Afghan Taliban faction based in North Waziristan, also helped carry out the CIA attack, the worst against the spy agency in decades.
Since the bombing, the US has carried out 11 suspected drone strikes in North and South Waziristan, an unprecedented volley of attacks since the CIA-led program began in earnest in Pakistan two years ago.
The house targeted in yesterday's attack was being used by Usman Jan, the head of the al-Qaida-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, intelligence officials said.
Five Uzbeks were killed in the strike, but it was unclear if Jan was among them. Jan's predecessor, Tahir Yuldash, was also killed in a drone strike in South Waziristan last year.
The other 15 people killed in yesterday's strike were Pakistani Taliban, said the officials. Four more militants were seriously wounded, but their identities were unknown.
The Pakistani government publicly condemns the strikes as violations of its sovereignty.
Mehsud issued an audio message on Saturday denying he was killed in the January 14 drone strike that Pakistani intelligence officials said targeted him in Shaktoi, which lies along the border between North and South Waziristan.
"Let me clarify that I was neither wounded nor martyred in this attack, nor was I present in this attack," said Mehsud in a message that Pakistani Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq played for an Associated Press reporter.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
