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View Full Version : Oct. 28., 2011. - Unreported drone strike kills 13 Paki Talibans in South Waziristan



SgtJim
10-30-2011, 02:20 AM
from Bill Roggio @ longwarjournal
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At least 13 members of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, including a deputy of Hakeemullah Mehsud, the group's emir, have been killed in a previously unreported US Predator airstrike.
The airstrike took place on Oct. 26 in South Waziristan, according to Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/28/us-pakistan-drone-idUSTRE79R2AU20111028), but was not immediately reported. The exact location of the strike was not provided. Two missiles were fired at a compound. Pakistani officials said that 13 Taliban fighters were killed, but tribal leaders put the number of deaths at 22. All are said to be "militants."
Among those thought to have been killed was Taj Gul Mehsud, whom Reuters described as "a senior Taliban commander and close aide" to Hakeemullah. Taj Gul's death has not been confirmed, however.
Hakeemullah's Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan is closely allied with al Qaeda and is supported and sheltered by so-called "good Taliban" leaders Mullah Nazir in South Waziristan and Hafiz Gul Bahadar in North Waziristan. Both Nazir and Bahadar are supported by the Pakistani military despite their close alliances with al Qaeda and the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan.
Hakeemullah's forces are at war with the Pakistani state and also send troops to Afghanistan to fight NATO forces. Two of Hakeemullah's top deputies have recently signaled that their group is willing to make peace (http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/10/pakistani_taliban_si.php) with the Pakistani state. He has vowed to carry out attacks in the US, and was behind the failed car bomb plot at Times Square in New York City on May 1, 2010.
The Oct. 26 strike in South Waziristan was one of three in the tribal areas over the course of two days. On Oct. 27, Predators hit Nazir's commanders in South Waziristan and a group of militants in North Waziristan. Among those killed in the Oct. 27 strike in South Waziristan were Hazrat Omar, one of Nazir's brothers who served as the group's operational commander in Afghanistan; Khan Mohammed, a senior deputy; and Miraj Wazir, one of Nasir's cousins.


Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/10/us_predator_strike_k_10.php#ixzz1cF9UTBRS