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Breaking news stories were optimistic the multiple drone attacks were successful in assassinating Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a top leader of the Taliban in Pakistan. I delayed this diary to get confirmation. Apparently the drones targeted the area of their home districts in the tribal area.
‘US drone strikes kill 14 militants in Pakistan’
MIRAMSHAH, Pakistan (Dawn News) – US drone attacks killed at least 14 militants and destroyed hideouts in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region. The twin strikes 12 hours apart struck west and east of Miramshah, the main town in the tribal district.
Both attacks targeted militant hideouts, but the identity of the dead, the networks to which they may have been affiliated and whether there were any high-value targets was not immediately clear.
Pakistani officials said 11 militants were killed in the attack in Bahadar Khel village early Friday and three in the village of Khaddi late Thursday. Meanwhile, DawnNews reported that the target of the second attack was a house in the Dattakhel village, some 50 kilometres west of Miramshah.
The US military does not, as a rule, confirm drone attacks, but its armed forces and the Central Intelligence Agency operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy pilotless drones in the region.
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“US drones fired three missiles at a house used by militants around 7:30 am. Eleven militants were killed,” said a senior security official in Peshawar. Security officials in Mirmshah said seven other militants were injured and that three of the 11 dead were “foreigners” — a term used by Pakistani officials for Al-Qaeda-linked militants operating in the tribal regions.
The areas around Khaddi and Bahadar Khel are known for being strongholds of two groups loyal to Taliban-linked warlords Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Maulvi Sadiq Noor, officials said.
The two men are reputed to control thousands of fighters who attack US-led forces across the border in Afghanistan, where the Afghan Taliban are waging a nearly nine-year insurgency to evict the estimated 142,000 foreign troops.
The covert campaign last year doubled missile attacks in the tribal area, where more than 100 drone strikes killed over 670 people in 2010, compared with 45 strikes that killed 420 in 2009, according to an AFP tally.
Pakistan tacitly cooperates with the bombing campaign, which US officials say has severely weakened Al-Qaeda’s leadership. But it has stalled on launching a ground offensive in North Waziristan, saying its troops are overstretched.
The Survivalist of North Waziristan: Hafiz Gul Bahadur Biography and Analysis
The most recent information on Bahadur’s views on international jihad comes from a public statement he issued jointly with Beitullah Mehsud and Nazir in February 2009, after their formation of the Council of United Mujahideen [pdf]. The document, which quotes several Qur’anic verses citing the need for the unity among Muslims, states:.
The objective of this alliance and shura is to fight as one force in the name of God to stop the trespasser from his trespass and the oppressor from his oppression. So that Islam, the religion of God, and Truth is glorified.
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[It is] just as the enemies, that is, the Jews and Christians, have united against the Muslims, particularly the mujahideen, under the leadership of the United States whose leader is new President Obama. [31]
JI warns against operation in North Waziristan
(Dawn News) – Mr Hassan said the parliament was not working properly as the policies were being made outside. He criticised the government`s foreign policy and said the present rulers were following the policies of Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf. He said uncontrolled drone attacks in tribal areas by the US were an ample proof of failure of the foreign policy.
The JI chief lashed out at Punjab Governor Salman Taseer for advocating amendments in the blasphemy law.
Former JI Amir Qazi Hussain Ahmed supported Mujahideen in Iraq for fighting the invading forces and asked the Pakistan government to support Jihadi groups in Afghanistan as well as in the country.
“Remember that Taliban are fighting against nobody but America and Nato forces. Then how should we call them terrorists. They are in fact guardians of national sovereignty,” Mr Hussain added.
The Pakistan Army accused of taking dictation from the US and the speakers asked Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani to inform the general public about achievements made in the war against terrorism.
“Generals and politicians have become slaves (to the US)”, said Qazi Hussain Ahmed, adding that the US secret diplomacy had exposed its real face.
Dr Fauzia Siddiqui, the sister of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, and Amna Masood Janjua, a representative of families of missing persons also spoke on the occasion.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
