"Drone strike on seminary kills 6 people in Pakistan; Likely US attack comes outside tribal regions" by Ismail Khan | New York Times, November 22, 2013
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Missiles believed to have been fired by a US drone struck an Islamic seminary in northern Pakistan on Thursday, in a rare strike outside the country’s volatile tribal regions.
The attack, in the Hangu District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, killed six people and wounded five, including several members of the Haqqani militant network, according to a senior Pakistani security official.
The attack came as Pakistani officials and politicians from across the political spectrum have intensified criticism of the US drone attacks, particularly after a strike on Nov. 1 killed Hakimullah Mehsud, leader of the Pakistani Taliban, and disrupted the government’s plan to open peace negotiations with the militants.
See: Pakistan Drone Strike a Diversion
The drone fired missiles into the seminary, near the border with Afghanistan, about 4:30 a.m. Thursday, Iftikhar Ahmad, a local police officer, said in a phone interview. Local officials said drones had been flying over the area since Monday.
“The bodies have been mutilated and burned beyond recognition,” he said. “We are investigating the matter.”
A senior government official in Peshawar said the seminary belonged to Qari Noor Mohammad, who was affiliated with the Haqqani network.
Related: Haqqani Ha-Ha
It's no longer funny, even if they had a falling out.
The network, which operates on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, is believed to be one of the most lethal elements of the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. This month, unidentified gunmen killed Nasiruddin Haqqani, a son of the group’s founder and one of its chief fund-raisers, in Pakistan.
Related: Timely Truck Bomb
Another security official said four of those killed were Afghan militants belonging to the Haqqani network, including Ahmad Jan, a senior network leader who also looked after finances for the group. The two others killed in the strike were students at the seminary, which was in a small Afghan refugee camp in Tandora.
Isn't a seminary a school?
The drone strike Thursday occurred a day after Sartaj Aziz, the national security adviser to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, told a senate foreign affairs committee in Islamabad that the United States had assured Pakistan that it would halt such strikes during negotiations with Pakistani militants.
Aziz did not give any time frame as to when the proposed peace talks with Pakistani militants in the tribal region might begin. Earlier talks broke off after the strike that killed Mehsud.
I never take the words peace talk seriously in a war paper. Sorry.
The Tehreek-e-Insaf Party, which governs Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, had already called for a protest Saturday to pressure Sharif to halt NATO supplies destined for Afghanistan to get the United States to stop drone strikes.
Speaking at a news conference in Islamabad on Thursday, Imran Khan, the former cricket star who leads the party, sharply, criticized both the United States and the Pakistani government.
The man who should have been president.
Khan said his party would stage a mass anti-drone protest in Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and reiterated his vow to block NATO supplies. “I urge all people to gather in Peshawar on Saturday and show that we are honorable people,” he said.
I never doubted it for a moment.
--more--"
"Pakistani party names top US spy, calls for his arrest" by Sebastian Abbot and Lara Jakes | Associated Press November 28, 2013
ISLAMABAD — Rising anger over deadly drone attacks spurred a Pakistani political party Wednesday to reveal the secret identity of what it said was the top US spy in the country. It demanded he be tried for murder, another blow to already jagged relations between the two nations.
A pair of US missile strikes in recent weeks — including one that killed the Pakistani Taliban’s leader as the government prepared to invite him to hold peace talks — has increased simmering tensions between Washington and Islamabad after years of public fury over the covert attacks. The apparent disclosure of the top CIA officer’s name will almost certainly strain the fragile diplomacy that the United States is relying upon to help negotiate an end to the war in neighboring Afghanistan.
It was the second time in recent years that Pakistanis opposed to drone strikes targeting Islamist militants have claimed to have revealed the identity of the top CIA spy in the country.
In a letter to Pakistani police, Shireen Mazari, the information secretary of political party Tehreek-e-Insaf, called for the CIA station chief in Islamabad and CIA Director John Brennan to be tried for murder and ‘‘waging war against Pakistan’’ in connection with a Nov. 21 drone strike on an Islamic seminary in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The political party is led by cricket star Imran Khan and controls the government in northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It is one of the main critics of the US drone program and has pushed Pakistan’s federal government, which is controlled by a rival party, to take measures like cutting off the NATO troop supply line to Afghanistan until the United States stops the attacks.
One month later, they would.
Mazari said in a news conference that the strike in the province’s Hangu district killed four Pakistanis and two Afghans, and also wounded children. In her letter, Mazari claimed that the CIA station chief did not enjoy diplomatic immunity and should be prevented from leaving the country. She said interrogating him could produce the names of the pilots who fly the drones.
He's not operating out of the U.S. embassy?
Anila Khawaja, a spokeswoman for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, declined to say how the party learned the station chief’s name.
CIA spokesman Dean Boyd would not confirm the Islamabad station chief’s name and declined further comment. The Associated Press is not publishing the name disclosed by Mazari because it could not verify its authenticity.
Pakistan is one of the most dangerous places in the world for CIA agents, who operate there as secret soldiers in the US war against terrorism.
Yeah, the poor f***ing CIA!
The job of the CIA station chief in Islamabad is generally a one-year assignment. It involves running the Predator drone program targeting terrorists and serving as a US liaison to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency, where the station chief’s identity is known by top officials.
The whereabouts of the current CIA chief in Islamabad were unknown Wednesday.
--more--"
Pakistan pissed off AmeriKa, then they briefly tried to make up for it.
Related:
"Gunmen killed a local employee of the US consulate in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Monday, police said. Police spokesman Arif Khan said attackers riding on a motorbike shot Faisal Saeed, a computer networking specialist, as he was walking home in the Gulbahar area of the provincial capital. Khan said the identity card in Saeed’s pocket revealed, and relatives confirmed, that he worked at the consulate. The US Embassy said officials were looking into the report. Militants are active in Peshawar and nearby tribal areas."
That will call down a response from the U.S.:
"Drone attack enrages Pakistan party" New York Times November 30, 2013
ISLAMABAD — Missiles believed to have been fired by a US drone killed a suspected militant in northwestern Pakistan, a Pakistani intelligence official said Friday. The incident drew strong criticism from a Pakistani opposition political party that is campaigning against the US use of drones inside Pakistan.
The strike targeted a house in Qazi Kot village in North Waziristan, a tribal region that has long provided a safe haven to Taliban and Al Qaeda militants. The militant was not immediately identified by name, but the intelligence official said he had been a Pakistani citizen from Punjab province.
Drone strikes, which are seen here as a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty, have become increasingly contentious, with strong criticism by an opposition politician, Imran Khan.
Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, raised the stakes in its campaign against drone strikes Wednesday when it accused the CIA and a man it identified as the CIA station chief in Islamabad of murder.
The accusation was the latest move in Khan’s attempts to end the strikes, which he says have jeopardized peace talks with Taliban insurgents. On Nov. 23, Khan led a protest rally in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkwa province, which his political party rules. Since then, party workers have attempted to block NATO supplies in the province.
The “US has nothing but contempt for Pakistan’s leadership,” said Shireen Mazari, a party secretary.
Don't take it personally. They feel that way about everyone.
--more--"
"At least four people suspected of being militants were killed by a drone strike on a possible militant compound in northwestern Pakistan, a Pakistani official said. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the drone strike took place near Qutab Khel village, about three miles south of Miranshah, in the North Waziristan tribal region, a haven for Taliban and Qaeda militants. The identity of those killed was not known, but the Pakistani official said they might have been of Arab origin. The Pakistani government condemned the drone strike. The use of drones by the CIA is deeply unpopular in Pakistan. “These strikes are a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “There is an across-the-board consensus in Pakistan that these drone strikes must end.” It added, “These drone strikes have a negative impact on the government’s efforts to bring peace and stability in Pakistan and the region.”
Then maybe the government should stop cooperating with the U.S. and playing this silly game on their own people. As for the negative impact, mission accomplished.
"Pakistani party to end supply blockade" The Washington Post February 28, 2014
A major Pakistani political party announced Thursday that it was ending its blockade of NATO supply routes through the northern part of the country, capping a three-month protest over US drone strikes on Pakistani soil.
The Movement for Justice Party said that it was halting the demonstration in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province out of respect for the country’s judiciary. On Tuesday, the Peshawar High Court ruled that the supply route blockade was unconstitutional.
The Movement for Justice Party, led by former cricket star Imran Khan, began the protest Nov. 24 after the United States conducted several drone strikes in northwest Pakistan.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif objected to the move, saying only the national government had the authority to block the routes.
--more--"
That doesn't mean they are going to get through:
"NATO supply convoy attacked in Pakistan" New York Times Syndicate March 05, 2014
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Gunmen in the Khyber tribal region in northwestern Pakistan, which borders Afghanistan, opened fire Tuesday on a two-truck convoy carrying NATO supplies, killing one driver and wounding two others, a government official said.
The official said the attack occurred about 25 miles northwest of Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. A “search operation has been launched to find the culprits,” said the official, who requested anonymity.
The attack came only days after the governing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, led by Imran Khan, announced that it would end a blockade of NATO supplies after a court ruling declared it to be illegal.
Khan’s party imposed the blockade to protest US drone strikes in the tribal region, saying they were killing more innocent people than militants.
The attack also came days after Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, an umbrella organization representing Pakistani militant groups, announced that it would observe a monthlong cease-fire to allow government-proposed peace talks to start.
TTP = CIA!!
It's the U.S.'s anti-Taliban Taliban!
The announcement, however, was followed by a spate of bombings, including one on Monday in the district court complex in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, that left 11 people dead and over two dozen wounded.
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has denied involvement in the violence.
A relatively new group, Ahrar-ul-Hind, said it was behind the attack. Ahrar said that it was fighting for the enforcement of Shariah in Pakistan and that peace talks were not the way to do it.
A hallmark of a false flag.
--more--"
Also see: Senior Pakistani police investigator killed
"On Thursday, a bomb ripped through a Sunni Islamic seminary in the city of Peshawar, killing eight people and wounding 60, provincial spokesman Shaukat Ali Yousafzai said. The blast occurred as thousands of people had gathered at the Tableeghi Jamaat religious school before the Islamic day of prayers Friday, police said."
Bombing kills 20 Pakistani troops
"A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, Shahidullah Shahid, said by telephone that the attack had been carried out to avenge the death of Waliur Rehman, the group’s former second in command. He was killed last year in a US drone strike."
More: Bomb kills 20 troops in northwest Pakistan
Pakistan, Taliban begin peace talks
And every time there is that kind of talk this follows:
Blast kills 12 Pakistani commandos
35 die as Pakistani jets target Taliban
Gunmen kill a leader of Pakistani Taliban
I wonder who could have done that.
Also Monday, an attacker wearing an explosives vest blew himself up near a security checkpoint close to the residence of the Iranian consul general in Peshawar, said the provincial police chief. Two Pakistani guards were killed.
Trying to widen the war any way possible, 'eh?
"Pakistan’s military ready to battle Taliban; Militants hiding in tribal regions will be targeted" by Karen DeYoung | Washington Post February 26, 2014
WASHINGTON — The Pakistani government is on the verge of launching a major military offensive in the North Waziristan tribal region following a series of brutal Taliban attacks in recent weeks and the apparent failure of peace talks with the militants, according to a senior Pakistani official.
Just tanked it.
‘‘It could be any day,’’ said the official, who added that military plans have been shared with top US officials who have long urged an offensive.
Planning for the operation comes amid a Pakistan-requested pause in US drone strikes now entering its third month — the longest period without an attack in more than two years — and a series of high-level US-Pakistan meetings.
Pakistan’s defense secretary, Asif Yasin Malik, is heading a delegation of security officials in Washington. CIA Director John Brennan quietly visited Pakistan last week, days after General Lloyd Austin III, head of the US Central Command, held meetings at military headquarters in Rawalpindi.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s national security adviser said Cabinet-level consultations on the military option would take place this week. ‘‘Dialogue with the Taliban has derailed and the writ of the state will be established in the region,’’ Sartaj Aziz told reporters Monday in Islamabad.
With 150,000 troops already based in the tribal regions, the Pakistani official said, the government is prepared to begin a full-fledged clearing operation. ‘‘We really don’t have to start from scratch,’’ the official said.
The official said that an official evacuation had not begun, but noted that tens of thousands of residents had left on their own.
US officials, while hailing the current level of cooperation and saying they are encouraged by Pakistan’s apparent determination, noted that they have been disappointed in the past. ‘‘We’ll believe it when we see it,’’ said one US official, who like other US and Pakistan officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic contacts and military plans.
What nerve!
‘‘We’re not doing it for their happiness,’’ said the senior Pakistani official of the United States’ urging. He said the execution last week of 23 soldiers held by the Pakistani Taliban since 2010, along with recent attacks, including one that killed 19 at a Karachi police station, have turned public opinion against the militants and the sputtering peace talks. That has opened political space for military action.
In statements Monday, both the Pakistan People’s Party, the official parliamentary opposition, and Imran Khan, the head of the opposition Movement for Justice party, said they supported a military offensive.
Khan, whose northwest power base borders the tribal regions and who has been harshly critical of Sharif and the United States, called for the government to begin evacuating civilians from North Waziristan before starting a bombardment of the area, as it did prior to military offensives in the Swat region in 2009, and in South Waziristan in 2010.
The Pakistani Taliban is allied with but separate from the Afghan Taliban fighting US forces in Afghanistan. Elements of both, along with the Afghan Haqqani network and remnants of Al Qaeda’s leadership, are located in North Waziristan.
The Pakistani Taliban’s stated goal is to overthrow the government and install an Islamic state based on religious law.
Peace talks were proposed last fall by Sharif, who took office in June after the first democratic transition in Pakistani history. Those talks were canceled when a US drone strike in November killed Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud. The action led to one of the frequent downturns in US- Pakistani relations, as Sharif’s government accused the Obama administration of trying to undermine negotiations.
In December, as it prepared to relaunch the talks, the government asked the administration to hold off on further drone attacks and made clear it was ready to begin an offensive if negotiations did not succeed.
The 2010 South Waziristan offensive began with air bombardment, followed by waves of ground troops, although the official cautioned that the terrain and militant locations in North Waziristan are somewhat different.
--more--"
Related: Taliban in Pakistan announce a cease-fire
TTP wants peace talks amid speculation of an offensive
Rare militant attack in Pakistan’s capital kills 11
While Taliban leaders quickly distanced themselves from the attack, a former faction of the group called Ahrar ul Hind claimed it carried out the attack to show its displeasure with the peace process, and one guys said he ‘‘felt like I was watching a movie and this was not real.’’
Then it probably was not!
Bomb kills 9 as talks between Pakistan, Taliban delayed
No immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on a hotel frequented by members of the Shi’ite Muslim minority sect. Suspicion is likely to fall on Sunni Islamic militants.
Related:
"Assailants threw grenades into a crowded movie theater in northwestern Pakistan Tuesday, killing 13 people, officials said, in an attack that shows the challenges as negotiators face off in talks between the Taliban and the government. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the attack comes days after Pakistan began peace negotiations with Taliban militants fighting in the country’s northwest to end the violence that has killed more than 40,000 people in recent years. The Pakistani Taliban, formally called Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, is an amorphous organization where many of the factions act on their own."
It's exactly like I said!
Pakistan resumes talks with Taliban
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, The future of the negotiating process was then called into question Monday when militants killed 11 people in an attack on a judicial compound in the heart of the city. The killing of eight troops this week, including six just hours before the negotiators met Wednesday, have also strained the process.
Now that they can't send drones down....
Group highlights dangers for Pakistan journalists
Pakistani Army wants news station shut off
Because they were reporting on the government assassination squads.
Pakistan, Taliban hold peace talks
Positive signs, I'm told.
Like clockwork:
Dozens killed as Taliban rivals clash
The power struggle is between two men — Shehryar Mehsud and Khan Sayed Sajna — who both want to control the Mehsud faction of the Pakistani Taliban, formally called Tehrik-e-Taliban.
Pakistan airstrikes kill 37 in tribal area
The airstrikes come as Pakistan’s government tries to negotiate a peace deal with the Pakistani Taliban in efforts to end years of fighting that has killed thousands of people. The local Taliban branch, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, had declared a cease-fire, but its leaders said last week they would not extend it as peace talks go on. Meanwhile Thursday, a bomb targeting prominent police officer Shafiq Tanoli exploded in downtown Karachi, killing the officer and three others, police official Pir Mohammad Shah said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Shah said Tanoli, who had survived several attempts on his life, was targeted for his active campaigning against terrorists.
2 bombings kill 6 in Pakistan
"No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks. Karachi has been a scene of ethnic, political, sectarian, and militant violence. The Islamic militants who have sanctuaries in the Pakistani tribal areas use the port city to rest and generate money through robberies, kidnapping for ransom, and extortion. Terrorist attacks have resumed after a relative lull since the Taliban two weeks ago called off a cease-fire that had been part of efforts to negotiate peace."
I was told once it was the Taliban's vacation resort, so why would they bomb it?
10 Pakistani troops killed in attacks
The Pakistani military, meanwhile, test-fired a ballistic missile it said could carry a nuclear warhead, an exercise meant to showcase the nation’s capabilities.
Related: Pakistan breaks ground on nuclear power plant project with China
Another reason to begging drone strikes again.
Pakistan airstrikes kill 60 militants
U.S. gets back into the act:
"US drones stage 2d strike on militant base in Pakistan; Attacks signal sharp renewal of CIA campaign" by Declan Walsh and Ismail Khan | New York Times June 13, 2014
LONDON — A US drone struck a militant compound in Pakistan’s tribal belt for the second time in 12 hours Thursday, killing at least 10 suspected members of the Haqqani network in a suddenly intense resurgence of the controversial CIA offensive in Pakistan.
Related: Changes in CIA’s drone program happening slowly
Not fast enough for Pakistanis, anyway.
The US drone strikes, after an almost six-month lull in the operations while Pakistani officials tried and failed to negotiate a peace deal with the Taliban, come as Pakistan is considering a new offensive of its own against militants in the northwestern tribal belt. But early news reports Thursday offered conflicting comments about whether the Pakistani authorities might have approved the drone strikes or were working in tandem with the United States — a politically caustic idea in a country where the CIA program is widely hated.
The strikes, both of which were reported to have killed Haqqani operatives, also came two weeks after the release of the US soldier Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who had been a Haqqani hostage for five years. A former US military commander has suggested that Bergdahl’s safety now would give more freedom to strike at the Haqqanis, who are fighting to overthrow the US-backed civilian government in Afghanistan.
Related: Where in the World is Warren Weinstein?
Pakistani security officials said Thursday that a CIA drone had fired six missiles at the compound four miles north of Miram Shah, the main town in North Waziristan. The attack, which occurred just after 2 a.m. Thursday, targeted a building and an explosives-laden truck parked outside, they said.
In the middle of the night while everyone is sleeping!
Seven hours earlier, a US attack on the same compound had killed at least four people. Initial reports from that attack described the dead as mostly ethnic Uzbek fighters, but the second strike appeared to have been aimed squarely at the Haqqani militants.
Compound is a fancy way of staying home.
The Haqqani group, headed by Sirajuddin Haqqani, has staged numerous attacks on US and Afghan security forces, as well as hotels and embassies in Kabul, the Afghan capital. The group’s strength derives in part from its sanctuary in North Waziristan, where it is believed to have held Bergdahl for much of his five years in captivity, until his release May 31 in exchange for five Taliban commanders held in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
Oh, they are the ones that held Bergdahl and spoke English to him?
The Wednesday and Thursday attacks marked a resumption of the US drone program in Pakistan’s tribal belt following a nearly six-month hiatus. The last known CIA strike inside Pakistan occurred Dec. 25.
Think of that last strike as a Christmas present.
US drone strikes are deeply unpopular in Pakistan and are usually met with vehement criticism from the government, which Thursday issued a pro forma statement that condemned both attacks as a “violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Still, the strike received no mention from lawmakers in national assembly proceedings Thursday.
Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
In private, some Pakistani officials say they support drone strikes when they suit Pakistan’s self-interest. On Thursday, Reuters quoted two unnamed Pakistani government officials who described the latest strikes as a “joint Pakistan-US operation” that, they said, had the “express approval” of the Pakistani government.
But a senior Pakistani security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, insisted that the action did not have prior Pakistani approval.
The lull in CIA strikes coincided with an effort by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government to draw the Pakistani Taliban into peace talks. But that effort collapsed in recent weeks, undercut by tensions between Sharif and the military leadership and by a leadership split in the Taliban ranks.
Moreover, a Taliban assault on Karachi airport Sunday, resulting in 36 deaths, bolstered support for a military operation.
Hmmmmmmm!
See: At the Pakistan Airport
Any military operation is a political risk for Sharif, who fears a violent backlash in his home province, Punjab.
Related: Taliban in Pakistan announce a cease-fire
TTP wants peace talks amid speculation of an offensive
Rare militant attack in Pakistan’s capital kills 11
While Taliban leaders quickly distanced themselves from the attack, a former faction of the group called Ahrar ul Hind claimed it carried out the attack to show its displeasure with the peace process, and one guys said he ‘‘felt like I was watching a movie and this was not real.’’
Then it probably was not!
Bomb kills 9 as talks between Pakistan, Taliban delayed
No immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on a hotel frequented by members of the Shi’ite Muslim minority sect. Suspicion is likely to fall on Sunni Islamic militants.
Related:
"Assailants threw grenades into a crowded movie theater in northwestern Pakistan Tuesday, killing 13 people, officials said, in an attack that shows the challenges as negotiators face off in talks between the Taliban and the government. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the attack comes days after Pakistan began peace negotiations with Taliban militants fighting in the country’s northwest to end the violence that has killed more than 40,000 people in recent years. The Pakistani Taliban, formally called Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, is an amorphous organization where many of the factions act on their own."
It's exactly like I said!
Pakistan resumes talks with Taliban
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, The future of the negotiating process was then called into question Monday when militants killed 11 people in an attack on a judicial compound in the heart of the city. The killing of eight troops this week, including six just hours before the negotiators met Wednesday, have also strained the process.
Now that they can't send drones down....
Group highlights dangers for Pakistan journalists
Pakistani Army wants news station shut off
Because they were reporting on the government assassination squads.
Pakistan, Taliban hold peace talks
Positive signs, I'm told.
Like clockwork:
Dozens killed as Taliban rivals clash
The power struggle is between two men — Shehryar Mehsud and Khan Sayed Sajna — who both want to control the Mehsud faction of the Pakistani Taliban, formally called Tehrik-e-Taliban.
Pakistan airstrikes kill 37 in tribal area
The airstrikes come as Pakistan’s government tries to negotiate a peace deal with the Pakistani Taliban in efforts to end years of fighting that has killed thousands of people. The local Taliban branch, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, had declared a cease-fire, but its leaders said last week they would not extend it as peace talks go on. Meanwhile Thursday, a bomb targeting prominent police officer Shafiq Tanoli exploded in downtown Karachi, killing the officer and three others, police official Pir Mohammad Shah said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Shah said Tanoli, who had survived several attempts on his life, was targeted for his active campaigning against terrorists.
2 bombings kill 6 in Pakistan
"No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks. Karachi has been a scene of ethnic, political, sectarian, and militant violence. The Islamic militants who have sanctuaries in the Pakistani tribal areas use the port city to rest and generate money through robberies, kidnapping for ransom, and extortion. Terrorist attacks have resumed after a relative lull since the Taliban two weeks ago called off a cease-fire that had been part of efforts to negotiate peace."
I was told once it was the Taliban's vacation resort, so why would they bomb it?
10 Pakistani troops killed in attacks
The Pakistani military, meanwhile, test-fired a ballistic missile it said could carry a nuclear warhead, an exercise meant to showcase the nation’s capabilities.
Related: Pakistan breaks ground on nuclear power plant project with China
Another reason to begging drone strikes again.
Pakistan airstrikes kill 60 militants
U.S. gets back into the act:
"US drones stage 2d strike on militant base in Pakistan; Attacks signal sharp renewal of CIA campaign" by Declan Walsh and Ismail Khan | New York Times June 13, 2014
LONDON — A US drone struck a militant compound in Pakistan’s tribal belt for the second time in 12 hours Thursday, killing at least 10 suspected members of the Haqqani network in a suddenly intense resurgence of the controversial CIA offensive in Pakistan.
Related: Changes in CIA’s drone program happening slowly
Not fast enough for Pakistanis, anyway.
The US drone strikes, after an almost six-month lull in the operations while Pakistani officials tried and failed to negotiate a peace deal with the Taliban, come as Pakistan is considering a new offensive of its own against militants in the northwestern tribal belt. But early news reports Thursday offered conflicting comments about whether the Pakistani authorities might have approved the drone strikes or were working in tandem with the United States — a politically caustic idea in a country where the CIA program is widely hated.
The strikes, both of which were reported to have killed Haqqani operatives, also came two weeks after the release of the US soldier Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who had been a Haqqani hostage for five years. A former US military commander has suggested that Bergdahl’s safety now would give more freedom to strike at the Haqqanis, who are fighting to overthrow the US-backed civilian government in Afghanistan.
Related: Where in the World is Warren Weinstein?
Pakistani security officials said Thursday that a CIA drone had fired six missiles at the compound four miles north of Miram Shah, the main town in North Waziristan. The attack, which occurred just after 2 a.m. Thursday, targeted a building and an explosives-laden truck parked outside, they said.
In the middle of the night while everyone is sleeping!
Seven hours earlier, a US attack on the same compound had killed at least four people. Initial reports from that attack described the dead as mostly ethnic Uzbek fighters, but the second strike appeared to have been aimed squarely at the Haqqani militants.
Compound is a fancy way of staying home.
The Haqqani group, headed by Sirajuddin Haqqani, has staged numerous attacks on US and Afghan security forces, as well as hotels and embassies in Kabul, the Afghan capital. The group’s strength derives in part from its sanctuary in North Waziristan, where it is believed to have held Bergdahl for much of his five years in captivity, until his release May 31 in exchange for five Taliban commanders held in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
Oh, they are the ones that held Bergdahl and spoke English to him?
The Wednesday and Thursday attacks marked a resumption of the US drone program in Pakistan’s tribal belt following a nearly six-month hiatus. The last known CIA strike inside Pakistan occurred Dec. 25.
Think of that last strike as a Christmas present.
US drone strikes are deeply unpopular in Pakistan and are usually met with vehement criticism from the government, which Thursday issued a pro forma statement that condemned both attacks as a “violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Still, the strike received no mention from lawmakers in national assembly proceedings Thursday.
Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
In private, some Pakistani officials say they support drone strikes when they suit Pakistan’s self-interest. On Thursday, Reuters quoted two unnamed Pakistani government officials who described the latest strikes as a “joint Pakistan-US operation” that, they said, had the “express approval” of the Pakistani government.
But a senior Pakistani security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, insisted that the action did not have prior Pakistani approval.
The lull in CIA strikes coincided with an effort by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government to draw the Pakistani Taliban into peace talks. But that effort collapsed in recent weeks, undercut by tensions between Sharif and the military leadership and by a leadership split in the Taliban ranks.
Moreover, a Taliban assault on Karachi airport Sunday, resulting in 36 deaths, bolstered support for a military operation.
Hmmmmmmm!
See: At the Pakistan Airport
Any military operation is a political risk for Sharif, who fears a violent backlash in his home province, Punjab.
--more--"
