"US drone hits Pakistan militant compound; Two Taliban commanders are among the dead" by New York Times News Service | October 28, 2008
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - An American drone aircraft hit a militant compound in South Waziristan Sunday night, killing 20 people, including two important local Taliban commanders known for their attacks against American soldiers in Afghanistan, a senior government official and a local resident said.
The latest strike appears to have been the 19th by pilotless Predator aircraft in the tribal areas since the beginning of August. In the first seven months of 2008, there were five strikes. The Bush administration has intensified the drone attacks after backing away from using American commandos for ground raids into the tribal belt.
A ground assault Sept. 3 produced an angry public riposte from the chief of the Pakistani army, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who said he would defend Pakistan's borders "at all costs" against such intrusions, an unusually strong statement from one ally to another.
Those are shit fooleys for the Pakistanis: There Will be No October or Obama Surprise
Ullah, who is usually in North Waziristan, was believed to have been visiting the compound in Manduta to pay respects to the families of those killed in an American drone strike Friday on a madrassa in North Waziristan run by Haqqani. The people killed in the North Waziristan strike came from the area around Manduta in South Waziristan, the government official and local resident said. --more--"
