US strike in North Waziristan kills 3

Map of the tribal areas and the Northwest Frontier Province. The government signed peace agreements in the red agencies/ districts (the military said Shangla was under Taliban control in October); purple districts are under de facto Taliban control; yellow regions are under Taliban influence.

The US launched another unmanned Predator aircraft strike in Pakistan’s Taliban-controlled tribal areas, according to reports from the region.

The Predator fired several Hellfire missiles at a Taliban and al Qaeda safe house in North Waziristan. The strike took place in Chashma, a village on the outskirts of Miramshah, the main town in the tribal agency, Reuters reported.

“A missile was fired at a house owned by one Taj Mohammad, and we have reports of two men killed,” a Pakistani intelligence agency official told the news agency.

At least three people have been reported killed, according to the Xinhua news service. The target of the strike is unknown. No senior Taliban or al Qaeda leaders have been reported killed in the attack.

The majority of US strikes inside of Pakistan’s northwest have taken place inside North Waziristan. The al Qaeda-linked Haqqani family and Taliban warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadar operate in North Waziristan. The Haqqani Network has a strong presence in Miramshah region of North Waziristan.

Background on the recent strikes inside Pakistan

Today’s attack is the fifth this month and the first since Nov. 21, when a safe house hosting a meeting in North Waziristan that included al Qaeda operatives Rashid Rauf and Abu Zubair al Masri was hit. Both Rauf and Zubair are thought to have been killed, however this has not been confirmed. Rauf’s family claimed his is still alive. On Nov. 19, the US hit an al Qaeda safe house in Bannu. This was the first recorded US strike outside of Pakistan’s tribal areas.

Siraj_Haqqani-1.jpg

Click to view slide show of the Haqqani Network. Pictured is a composite image of Siraj Haqqani.

The US attacks inside Pakistan have tapered off this month after a high operational tempo in September and October, when strikes into Pakistan averaged between two to three a week. The majority of these attacks have been inside North and South Waziristan.

There have been 32 recorded cross-border attacks and attempts in Pakistan this year, according to numbers compiled by The Long War Journal. Twenty-five of these attacks took place since Aug. 31. There were only 10 strikes during 2006 and 2007 combined.

The strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas have disrupted al Qaeda and the Taliban’s operations, but will not dislodge the groups from power in the region, a senior intelligence official told The Long War Journal.

The US campaign in Pakistan is aimed at disrupting al Qaeda’s ability to attack the West, US intelligence officials told The Long War Journal on Sept. 19.

US intelligence believes the next attack launched against the West will originate from Pakistan’s tribal areas, where al Qaeda operates 157 known training camps, intelligence officials told The Long War Journal in August.

The US strikes inside Pakistan’s tribal areas have killed five senior al Qaeda leaders this year. All of the leaders were involved in supporting al Qaeda’s external operations directed at the West.

Abu Laith al Libi, a senior military commander in Afghanistan, was killed in a strike in North Waziristan in January. Abu Sulayman Jazairi, al Qaeda’s external operations chief, was killed in a strike in Bajaur in March. Abu Khabab al Masri, al Qaeda’s WMD chief, and several senior members of his staff were killed in a strike in South Waziristan in July. Khalid Habib, the leader of al Qaeda’s paramilitary forces in the tribal areas, was killed in North Waziristan in October. Abu Jihad al Masri, the leader of the Egyptian Islamic Group and member of al Qaeda’s top council, was also killed in North Waziristan this October.

Two other senior al Qaeda leaders are rumored to have been killed, but their deaths have not been confirmed.

Tahir Yuldashev, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, was targeted in a Nov. 7 strike in South Waziristan that wounded Taliban leader Mullah Nazir. Abdullah Azzam al Saudi, an al Qaeda leader involved with external strikes and the recruitment and training of operative, is thought to have been killed in the Nov. 19 strike in Bannu, the first recorded US attack outside of Pakistan’s tribal areas.

US attacks inside Pakistan and incidents along the border in 2008:

US strike in North Waziristan kills 3

Nov. 29, 2008

US hits Taliban safe house In North Waziristan

Nov. 21, 2008

US Predator strikes al Qaeda & Taliban outside of Pakistan’s tribal areas

Nov. 19, 2008

US targets compound in North Waziristan

Nov. 14, 2008

US Predators strike al Qaeda camp in North Waziristan

Nov. 7, 2008

US Predators strike again in Waziristan

Oct. 31, 2008

US strikes kill al Qaeda operatives in North & South Waziristan

Oct. 31, 2008

US targets Taliban “facility” in South Waziristan

Oct. 26, 2008

US hits Haqqani Network in North Waziristan

Oct. 22, 2008

US strike in Baitullah Mehsud’s territory kills 6

Oct. 16, 2008

US targets safe house in North Waziristan

Oct. 11, 2008

US strike kills 9 al Qaeda and Taliban in North Waziristan

Oct. 9, 2008

US conducts two strikes in North Waziristan

Oct. 3, 2008

Taliban: Baitullah Mehsud alive; US strike in North Waziristan

Oct. 1, 2008

Pakistan military fires on ISAF forces

Sept. 25, 2008

Pakistani military fires on US helicopters at border

Sept. 22, 2008

US strikes Taliban camp in South Waziristan

Sept. 17, 2008

Report: US helicopters fired on while crossing Pakistani border

Sept. 15, 2008

US hits compound in North Waziristan

Sept. 12, 2008

US targets Haqqani Network in North Waziristan

Sept. 8, 2008

US airstrike killed five al Qaeda operatives in North Waziristan

Sept. 5, 2008

Report: US airstrike kills four in North Waziristan

Sept. 4, 2008

Pakistanis claim US helicopter-borne forces assaulted village in South Waziristan

Sept. 3, 2008

US hits al Qaeda safe house in North Waziristan

Aug. 31, 2008

Five killed in al Qaeda safe house strike in South Waziristan

Aug. 31, 2008

Al Qaeda safe house targeted in South Waziristan strike

Aug. 20, 2008

Cross-border strike targets one of the Taliban’s 157 training camps in Pakistan’s northwest

Aug. 13, 2008

Six killed in strike in South Waziristan

July 28, 2008

Report: Strike targets Baitullah Mehsud’s hideout in Pakistan

June 14, 2008

Senior Algerian al Qaeda operative killed in May 14 strike inside Pakistan

May 24, 2008

Missile strike kills 20 in South Waziristan

March 16, 2008

Unprecedented Coalition strike nails the Haqqani Network in North Waziristan

March 13, 2008

Missile strike on al Qaeda meeting in South Waziristan kills 13

Feb. 28, 2008

Senior al Qaeda leader Abu Laith al Libi killed in North Waziristan

Jan. 31, 2008

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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