Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Boston Globe
February 28, 2008 Ten suspected militants killed
By Hafiz Wazir, Reuters
WANA, Pakistan -- A missile today struck a house in a Pakistani region known as being a haven for Al Qaeda, killing 10 suspected militants, intelligence officials and residents said.
The attack took place near Kaloosha village in the South Waziristan tribal region on the Afghan border.
A security official said he believed that the missile was fired by US forces who are operating in neighboring Afghanistan and that the house hit belonged to a Pashtun tribesman, Sher Mohammad Malikkheil, also known as Sheroo, who was known to have links to militants.
"Ten people, most of them believed to be of Arab origin, were killed and seven wounded," said an intelligence official, who declined to be identified.
He said it was not known whether any top militant leaders were among the dead.
Major General Athar Abbas, military spokesman, said he was not aware of any such attack.
US forces have fired missiles at militants on the Pakistani side of the border several times in recent years, most recently on Jan. 28, when one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants, Abu Laith al-Libi, was killed in a strike in North Waziristan.
That missile was believed to have been fired by a US pilotless drone. Neither US nor Pakistani authorities, however, officially confirm US missile attacks on Pakistani territory, which would be an infringement of Pakistani sovereignty.
Pakistan, an important US ally despite widespread public opposition to the US-led campaign against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, said foreign troops would never be allowed to operate on its territory.
Many Al Qaeda members, including Uzbeks and Arabs, and Taliban militants took refuge in North and South Waziristan, as well as in other areas on the Pakistani side of the border after US-led forces ousted the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001.
From sanctuaries in the lawless border belt, the Taliban have orchestrated their insurgency against the Afghan government and the US and NATO forces supporting it.
Increasingly, so-called Pakistani Taliban have been mounting attacks in Pakistani towns and cities, many aimed at security forces and other government targets.
Al Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, vowed revenge for Libi's killing.
"No chief of ours had died of a natural death, nor has our blood been spilled without a response," Zawahri said in a video posted on an Islamist website yesterday, referring to Libi's killing.
Up to 13 foreign militants were killed in the late January strike.
February 28, 2008 Ten suspected militants killed
By Hafiz Wazir, Reuters
WANA, Pakistan -- A missile today struck a house in a Pakistani region known as being a haven for Al Qaeda, killing 10 suspected militants, intelligence officials and residents said.
The attack took place near Kaloosha village in the South Waziristan tribal region on the Afghan border.
A security official said he believed that the missile was fired by US forces who are operating in neighboring Afghanistan and that the house hit belonged to a Pashtun tribesman, Sher Mohammad Malikkheil, also known as Sheroo, who was known to have links to militants.
"Ten people, most of them believed to be of Arab origin, were killed and seven wounded," said an intelligence official, who declined to be identified.
He said it was not known whether any top militant leaders were among the dead.
Major General Athar Abbas, military spokesman, said he was not aware of any such attack.
US forces have fired missiles at militants on the Pakistani side of the border several times in recent years, most recently on Jan. 28, when one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants, Abu Laith al-Libi, was killed in a strike in North Waziristan.
That missile was believed to have been fired by a US pilotless drone. Neither US nor Pakistani authorities, however, officially confirm US missile attacks on Pakistani territory, which would be an infringement of Pakistani sovereignty.
Pakistan, an important US ally despite widespread public opposition to the US-led campaign against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, said foreign troops would never be allowed to operate on its territory.
Many Al Qaeda members, including Uzbeks and Arabs, and Taliban militants took refuge in North and South Waziristan, as well as in other areas on the Pakistani side of the border after US-led forces ousted the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001.
From sanctuaries in the lawless border belt, the Taliban have orchestrated their insurgency against the Afghan government and the US and NATO forces supporting it.
Increasingly, so-called Pakistani Taliban have been mounting attacks in Pakistani towns and cities, many aimed at security forces and other government targets.
Al Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, vowed revenge for Libi's killing.
"No chief of ours had died of a natural death, nor has our blood been spilled without a response," Zawahri said in a video posted on an Islamist website yesterday, referring to Libi's killing.
Up to 13 foreign militants were killed in the late January strike.