US Predators kill 4 ‘militants’ in North Waziristan strike

The US carried out another Predator airstrike in Pakistan’s Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan, killing four “militants,” according to reports from the region.

The unmanned, CIA-operated Predators or Reapers fired a pair of missiles at a compound and vehicle in the tribal agency’s main town of Miramshah on Aug. 16. The strike took place in the early morning near a girls’ school in the town. No civilians have been reported killed in the attack.

Four “militants” were killed and two more were wounded in the strike, Pakistani officials told AFP. No senior al Qaeda or Taliban leaders were reported killed.

The exact target of the strike is unclear, but the area is a known stronghold for the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network. Other terror groups also operate in the area.

The Miramshah area is controlled by the Haqqani Network, a powerful Taliban group that is a favorite proxy of Pakistan’s military and intelligence services and is also closely allied to al Qaeda. The Haqqani Network shelters and supports al Qaeda, and launches attacks against Coalition and Afghan forces across the border.

Sirajuddin Haqqani, the operational commander of the Haqqani Network, is a member of al Qaeda’s Shura Majlis as well as the Taliban’s Quetta Shura. The US government has put a $5 million bounty out for Siraj and has placed him on the list of specially designated global terrorists. Two of Siraj’s brothers, Nasirruddin and Badruddin, and his uncle, Khalil, have also been added to the US’ list of designated terrorists, for their activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as their support for al Qaeda.

In North Waziristan, the Haqqanis control large swaths of the tribal area and run a parallel administration with courts, recruiting centers, tax offices, and security forces. In addition, the Haqqanis have established multiple training camps and safe houses used by al Qaeda leaders and operatives, as well as by Taliban foot soldiers preparing to fight in Afghanistan. The Pakistani military has refused to move against Siraj and the Haqqani Network, despite his support for al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban. The Haqqanis are viewed by the Pakistani military as both a strategic asset against India and as Pakistan’s prime conduit for influence in Afghanistan.

The Predator strikes, by the numbers

Today’s strike is the fourth in Pakistan’s tribal areas this month, and the first in six days. The last strike, on Aug. 9, also took place near Miramshah. Twenty-one terrorists, including seven Haqqani Network fighters as well as an unknown number of Arabs and Uzbeks, were reported to have been killed.

From January through June 2011, the strikes in Pakistan were as follows: nine strikes in January, three strikes in February, seven in March, two in April, seven in May, 12 in June, and three in July. In the last four months of 2010, the US averaged almost 16 strikes per month (21 in September, 16 in October, 14 in November, and 12 in December).

So far this year, the US has carried out 47 strikes in Pakistan. In 2010, the US carried out 117 strikes, which more than doubled the number of strikes that had occurred in 2009; by late August 2010, the US had exceeded 2009’s strike total of 53 with a strike in Kurram. In 2008, the US carried out a total of 36 strikes inside Pakistan. [For up-to-date charts on the US air campaign in Pakistan, see LWJ Special Report, Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 – 2011.]

In 2010 the strikes were concentrated almost exclusively in North Waziristan, where the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, the Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, and a host of Pakistani and Central and South Asian terror groups are based. All but 13 of the 117 strikes took place North Waziristan. Of the 13 strikes occurring outside of North Waziristan in 2010, seven were executed in South Waziristan, five were in Khyber, and one was in Kurram. This year, an increasing number of strikes are taking place in South Waziristan. So far in 2011, 30 of the 47 strikes have taken place in North Waziristan, 16 strikes have occurred in South Waziristan, and one took place in Kurram.

Since Sept. 1, 2010, the US has conducted 108 strikes in Pakistan’s tribal agencies. The bulk of those attacks have aimed at the terror groups in North Waziristan, with 83 strikes in the tribal agency. Many of the strikes have targeted cells run by the Islamic Jihad Group, which have been plotting to conduct Mumbai-styled terror assaults in Europe. A Sept. 8 strike killed an IJG commander known as Qureshi, who specialized in training Germans to conduct attacks in their home country.

The US campaign in northwestern Pakistan has targeted top al Qaeda leaders, al Qaeda’s external operations network, and Taliban leaders and fighters who threaten both the Afghan and Pakistani states as well as support al Qaeda’s external operations. The campaign has been largely successful in focusing on terrorist targets and avoiding civilian casualties, as recently affirmed by the Pakistani military.

For a list of al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in the US air campaign in Pakistan, see LWJ Special Report, Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 – 2011.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

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6 Comments

  • Villiger says:

    “The US government has put a $5 million bounty out for Siraj and has placed him on the list of….”
    Why not double, or even quadruple, it? What does it matter in the wider scheme of things? Make it even larger depending on how many brothers and commanders are alongside. Money talks and it certainly does in that part of the world.
    Anyway, any award paid out should be deducted from payments to Pakistan, again perhaps with a multiple of five. These guys have got to go, and they will, but the sooner the better and cheaper for all.

  • madashell59 says:

    It would be great if this hit took out four of the trainers that were in the “Cubs of Waziristan” video.

  • Infidel4LIFE says:

    This is all good, but the problem remains. Safe havens in Pakistan, radical madrassas, an endless supply of “martyrs”. There will be no military victory here. When we do leave, and i assume we will, they will be fighting still. Pakistan IS the problem. What to do???

  • JR says:

    “Pakistan IS the problem. What to do???”
    Figure out a way to destroy their nuclear manufacturing capability and render useless or confiscate all existing nuclear weapons. Then end all financial aid so they can’t finance the repair of their facilities. Get all assets out of the theatre and let them kill one another to the end of time. Anytime we sniff even the slightest whiff of nuclear research/industry, destroy it. Nuclear weapons in the hands of these aberrent zealots is inconceivable.
    It would be worth the cost of life and money to carry this out. We will lose the same amount of personnel in this hopeless sewer of immorality, dishonor, ignorance and deceit.
    Let history be our judge.

  • Seal the border says:

    The Taliban went North into Kunduz to try and spread, divert ISAF strategy.
    However, if ISAF goes all out at the Taliban in the southern provinces straddling the Pakistani border as well as trying to effectively seal the Af-Pak border, this will ultimately strangle the Taliban in the North and put sever pressure on the Taliban coming over from Pakistan.
    And yes, the borders are porous and mountainous; but as one US general said in an interview here on LWJ, “kill em tired.”
    Funnel the Taliban into “lawless” zones,valleys, etc. Make them run to areas they feel they are safe; kill em while they rest and regroup.

  • popseal says:

    I love those deadly birds!

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