1 Attachment(s)
Oct. 13-14-15., 2011. - 3 days 4x airstrikes by US drones in Waziristan
in the last 3 days US Predators or Reapers made 4 airstrike in Pakistan / Waziristan killing several insurgents.....
reports/stories by Bill Roggio @ longwarjournal
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Attachment 11817
1., Oct. 13., - US Predators kill 6 'militants' in North and South Waziristan
US Predators struck today in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agencies of North and South Waziristan, killing six "militants" in the first recorded strikes in nearly two weeks.
In the first strike, the unmanned, CIA-operated Predators, or the more deadly Reapers, fired a pair of missiles in the village of Danda Darpa Khel just outside Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan, according to AFP. Pakistani officials said that three "militants" were killed in the attack.
A Haqqani Network "coordinator" named Jalil and two fighters were killed in the airstrike, according to The Associated Press. Jamil is said to be related to Sirajuddin Haqqani, the operational commander of the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network. AFP reported, however, that Jamil was not related to Siraj but was "very close" to the commander. Jamil was later identified as Jan Baz Zadran, who US intelligence officials described as the Haqqani Network's third in command [see LWJ report, US kills Haqqani Network's 3rd in command in North Waziristan strike].
The village of Danda Darpa Khel is in the sphere of influence of the Haqqani Network. In the past, the US has carried out several attacks against the Haqqani Network in the village. On Feb. 18, 2010, the US killed Mohammed Haqqani, one of the 12 sons of Jalaluddin Haqqani, in an airstrike in Danda Darpa Khel. Mohammed served as a military commander for the Haqqani Network.
In the second strike today, Predators fired missiles at a Taliban team in South Waziristan that was launching missiles and rockets at a US base across the border in Afghanistan, killing three, Dawn reported. The exact location of the strike was not given, but the area along the border is controlled by Mullah Nazir, the Taliban commander who also identifies himself as an al Qaeda commander [see LWJ report, 'Good' Pakistani Taliban leader Nazir affirms membership in al Qaeda].
The airstrikes took place as the US and Pakistan are waging a war of words over the latter's support of the Haqqani Network. Several US officials, including Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen, have accused Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, or ISI, of directly supporting Haqqani Network attacks inside Afghanistan. Most recently, the US said that the ISI aided the Haqqani Network in attacking the US Embassy and ISAF headquarters in Kabul. Mullen described the Haqqani Network as a "veritable arm" of the ISI.
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Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archiv...#ixzz1aqpZ3JIR
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2., - Oct. 13., -
US kills Haqqani Network's 3rd in command in North Waziristan strike
The Haqqani Network's third in command was killed in a US Predator airstrike in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan today, US officials said.
Jan Baz Zadran was killed in the town of Miramshah, US officials told The Associated Press. Unmanned US Predators conducted an airstrike in the Miramshah area today, and according to previous news reports, a Haqqani "coordinator" identified as "Jamil" was said to be one of three people killed in the strike. A US official told The Long War Journal that Jan Baz and Jamil are the same person.
The Haqqani Network has not confirmed reports that Jan Baz was among those killed in today's Predator strike in North Waziristan.
US officials contacted by The Long War Journal said that Jan Baz was high on their "target list" due to his role in the top tier of the Haqqani Network's leadership circle. The officials described him as the Haqqani Network's third in command. He is the senior-most Haqqani Network leader killed or captured in either Afghanistan or Pakistan.
Jan Baz was a powerful leader in the Haqqani Network. He was considered to be the top aide to Sirajuddin Haqqani, the operational commander of the Haqqani Network. Jan Baz served as the Haqqani Network's logistical and financial coordinator, and also acquired weapons and ammunition for the network.
He is one of the most wanted Taliban commanders operating in the Afghan theater. Coalition and Afghan special operations forces have been hunting Jan Baz for years. His brother was captured during a May 13 raid in the Zadran district in Khost province in eastern Afghanistan. At the time of his capture, the brother was described by the International Security Assistance Force as "a senior adviser for the insurgent network" who was "responsible for logistics and communications for a major portion of Haqqani operations" in Khost province. The brother "was intimately involved with the Haqqani command structure and tactical operations," ISAF stated. He also "recruited young men and suicide bombers for the Haqqani Network."
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3., - Oct., 14. - US Predators strike again in North Waziristan
US Predators struck again in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan, killing four militants in the same village where a senior Haqqani Network leader was killed yesterday.
The unmanned, CIA-operated Predators, or the more deadly Reapers, fired a pair of missiles at a vehicle in the village of Danda Darpa Khel just outside Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan, according to AFP. Four "militants" were killed in the strike; no senior leaders have been reported killed.
Today's strike in Danda Darpa Khel is the second in the village in two days. A strike there yesterday killed Jan Baz Zadran, a top-level coordinator for the Haqqani Network who has been described as the organization's third in command. Jan Baz was the key deputy to Sirajuddin Haqqani, the operational commander of the terror network. He is the senior-most Haqqani Network leader killed or captured by US and Afghan forces in the past three weeks. On Sept. 27, special operations forces captured Haji Mali Khan, the Haqqani Network's operational commander for Afghanistan, during a raid in Paktia province.
The two other militants killed with Jan Baz were identified as Maulana Iftikhar and Noor Ali Shah. Locals described them as participating in "jihad," or holy war, Dawn reported.
The village of Danda Darpa Khel is in the sphere of influence of the Haqqani Network. In the past, the US has carried out several attacks against the Haqqani Network in the village.
Jan Baz is the second senior Haqqani Network commander killed in Darpa Danda Khel in the past two years. On Feb. 18, 2010, the US killed Mohammed Haqqani, one of the 12 sons of Jalaluddin Haqqani, the patriarch of the family, in an airstrike in Danda Darpa Khel. Mohammed served as a military commander for the Haqqani Network.
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4., - Oct., 15. - US Predators target 'good Taliban' commander in South Waziristan
US Predators struck yet again in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas, this time in an area in South Waziristan under control of a Taliban leader favored by the Pakistani military. Today's strike is the fourth inside Pakistan in three days.
The unmanned, CIA-operated Predators, or the more deadly Reapers, fired nine missiles at a compound in the Birmal area in South Waziristan, according to Xinhua. Four Taliban fighters loyal to Mullah Nazir were killed in the strike and seven others were wounded. No senior leaders have been reported killed.
Pakistan's military and intelligence services consider Nazir and his followers "good Taliban" as they do not openly seek the overthrow of the Pakistani state, and signed a peace agreement with him in 2009.
Despite the peace agreement, Nazir and his followers continue to shelter al Qaeda and other Taliban groups that do attack the Pakistani state. He also sends forces into Afghanistan to battle US, NATO, and Afghan forces.
Mullah Nazir has openly supported Taliban emir Mullah Omar and slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and wages jihad in Afghanistan. In an interview with the Asia Times, Nazir rejected claims that he opposed al Qaeda, and affirmed that he considered himself to be a member of the global terror organization.
"Al Qaeda and the Taliban are one and the same," Nazir told The Asia Times earlier this year. "At an operational level we might have different strategies, but at the policy level we are one and the same.... This is wrong that I am anti-al Qaeda. I am part of al Qaeda."
This year the CIA has begun to target Nazir's tribal areas, after focusing nearly exclusively in North Waziristan in 2010. Nineteen of the 21 strikes that have occurred in South Waziristan this year were conducted in areas under Nazir's control (there have been 57 strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas so far in 2011). Last year, only two of the seven strikes took place in areas under Nazir's influence (there were 117 strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas in 2010).
The US killed Haleem Ullah, one of Nazir's commanders, in a strike in the Wana area of South Waziristan on Sept. 30.
