SgtJim
05-06-2011, 11:07 AM
By Bill Roggio
May 6, 2011
Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/05/us_predators_kill_13.php#ixzz1LaK54zAb
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10706
Unmanned US strike aircraft killed 13 "militants" in an attack on an area of Pakistan's tribal agency of North Waziristan that is known to shelter al Qaeda's top leaders. The strike is the first in two weeks, and the first since US commandos penetrated deep into Pakistan to kill al Qaeda's top leader Osama bin Laden.
Reports from the region indicate several of the remotely operated Predators or the more deadly Reapers fired eight missiles at a vehicle and a compound in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan. Initial reports indicated eight "militants" were killed, but Dawn later reported (http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/06/eight-killed-four-injured-in-north-waziristan-drone-attack.html) that 13 were killed.
"We are trying to ascertain the identities of the militants killed in the strike, but initial reports indicate that there are both local and foreign militants who had been killed in the missile attack," a local Pakistani intelligence official told AFP (http://www.samaa.tv/afpnewsdetail.aspx?loc=AFP-English-SouthAsia-Top-newsmlmmd.1f63252f82fa9ff37af17bbe3d4ff821.411). Pakistani officials use the term "foreign militants" to describe Arab and other al Qaeda fighters.
The nature of the strike, with eight missiles fired, indicates a senior al Qaeda or Taliban commander was targeted.
Datta Khel is a known al Qaeda hub
The Datta Khel area is administered by Hafiz Gul Bahadar, the Taliban commander for North Waziristan. Bahadar provides shelter to top al Qaeda leaders as well as terrorists from numerous Pakistani and Central Asian terror groups.
Datta Khel is a known hub of Taliban, Haqqani Network, and al Qaeda activity. While Bahadar administers the region, the Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, and allied Central Asian jihadi groups are also based in the area. The Lashkar al Zil, al Qaeda's Shadow Army, is known to have a command center in Datta Khel.
Datta Khel serves as a command and control center for al Qaeda's top leaders, and some of them have been targeted and killed there. A strike in Datta Khel on Dec. 17, 2009, targeted Sheikh Saeed al Saudi (http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/12/bin_ladens_brotherin.php), Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law and a member of al Qaeda's Shura Majlis, or executive council. Al Saudi is thought to have survived the strike, but Abdullah Said al Libi, the commander of the Shadow Army, and Zuhaib al Zahibi, a general in the Shadow Army, were both killed in the attack (http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2010/01/al_qaeda_shadow_army_2.php).
But the most significant attack in Datta Khel took place on May 21, 2010, which resulted in the death of Mustafa Abu Yazid (http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2010/05/top_al_qaeda_leader_1.php), a longtime al Qaeda leader and close confidant of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri.
Yazid served as the leader of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the wider Khorasan, a region that encompasses portions of Pakistan, Iran, and several Central Asian states. More importantly, Yazid was as al Qaeda's top financier, which put him in charge of the terror group's purse strings. He served on al Qaeda's Shura Majlis, or top decision-making council. Yazid also was closely allied with the Taliban and advocated the program of embedding small al Qaeda teams with Taliban forces in Afghanistan, a practice well-established in the country now.
Despite the known presence of al Qaeda and other foreign terrorist organizations in North Waziristan, and requests by the US that action be taken against these groups, the Pakistani military has indicated that it has no plans to take on Bahadar or the Haqqani Network, the other major Taliban group based there. Bahadar and the Haqqanis are considered "good Taliban" by the Pakistani military establishment as they do not carry out attacks inside Pakistan. Yet Bahadar, the Haqqanis, and other Taliban groups openly carry out attacks in Afghanistan.
May 6, 2011
Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/05/us_predators_kill_13.php#ixzz1LaK54zAb
---
10706
Unmanned US strike aircraft killed 13 "militants" in an attack on an area of Pakistan's tribal agency of North Waziristan that is known to shelter al Qaeda's top leaders. The strike is the first in two weeks, and the first since US commandos penetrated deep into Pakistan to kill al Qaeda's top leader Osama bin Laden.
Reports from the region indicate several of the remotely operated Predators or the more deadly Reapers fired eight missiles at a vehicle and a compound in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan. Initial reports indicated eight "militants" were killed, but Dawn later reported (http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/06/eight-killed-four-injured-in-north-waziristan-drone-attack.html) that 13 were killed.
"We are trying to ascertain the identities of the militants killed in the strike, but initial reports indicate that there are both local and foreign militants who had been killed in the missile attack," a local Pakistani intelligence official told AFP (http://www.samaa.tv/afpnewsdetail.aspx?loc=AFP-English-SouthAsia-Top-newsmlmmd.1f63252f82fa9ff37af17bbe3d4ff821.411). Pakistani officials use the term "foreign militants" to describe Arab and other al Qaeda fighters.
The nature of the strike, with eight missiles fired, indicates a senior al Qaeda or Taliban commander was targeted.
Datta Khel is a known al Qaeda hub
The Datta Khel area is administered by Hafiz Gul Bahadar, the Taliban commander for North Waziristan. Bahadar provides shelter to top al Qaeda leaders as well as terrorists from numerous Pakistani and Central Asian terror groups.
Datta Khel is a known hub of Taliban, Haqqani Network, and al Qaeda activity. While Bahadar administers the region, the Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, and allied Central Asian jihadi groups are also based in the area. The Lashkar al Zil, al Qaeda's Shadow Army, is known to have a command center in Datta Khel.
Datta Khel serves as a command and control center for al Qaeda's top leaders, and some of them have been targeted and killed there. A strike in Datta Khel on Dec. 17, 2009, targeted Sheikh Saeed al Saudi (http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/12/bin_ladens_brotherin.php), Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law and a member of al Qaeda's Shura Majlis, or executive council. Al Saudi is thought to have survived the strike, but Abdullah Said al Libi, the commander of the Shadow Army, and Zuhaib al Zahibi, a general in the Shadow Army, were both killed in the attack (http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2010/01/al_qaeda_shadow_army_2.php).
But the most significant attack in Datta Khel took place on May 21, 2010, which resulted in the death of Mustafa Abu Yazid (http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2010/05/top_al_qaeda_leader_1.php), a longtime al Qaeda leader and close confidant of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri.
Yazid served as the leader of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the wider Khorasan, a region that encompasses portions of Pakistan, Iran, and several Central Asian states. More importantly, Yazid was as al Qaeda's top financier, which put him in charge of the terror group's purse strings. He served on al Qaeda's Shura Majlis, or top decision-making council. Yazid also was closely allied with the Taliban and advocated the program of embedding small al Qaeda teams with Taliban forces in Afghanistan, a practice well-established in the country now.
Despite the known presence of al Qaeda and other foreign terrorist organizations in North Waziristan, and requests by the US that action be taken against these groups, the Pakistani military has indicated that it has no plans to take on Bahadar or the Haqqani Network, the other major Taliban group based there. Bahadar and the Haqqanis are considered "good Taliban" by the Pakistani military establishment as they do not carry out attacks inside Pakistan. Yet Bahadar, the Haqqanis, and other Taliban groups openly carry out attacks in Afghanistan.