Pakistani Taliban execute, behead soldiers in South Waziristan

By Bill Roggio - March 5, 2013 - LWJ

Warning: the video below contains graphic footage of the aftermath of the Taliban killing several Pakistani soldiers. The Taliban remove the heads of the Pakistani soldiers.

link to the video: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f12_1362419460

The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan released a videotape on the fighting in the Mehsud areas of South Waziristan which includes graphic footage of the mutilation of several Pakistani soldiers who appear to have been killed in a firefight last summer. The videotape, which was sent to The Long War Journal by a spokesman from Umar Media, the media arm of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, is titled "Strike of a Believer." It focuses on the Taliban's fight against the Pakistani military in the tribal agency of South Waziristan, and includes a statement from the terror group's emir, Hakeemullah Mehsud.
A three-minute segment shows what appears to be the aftermath of a clash with Pakistani soldiers in a mountainous area of South Waziristan. The Taliban are seen taking the soldiers' weapons. The soldiers are seen with their Pakistani Army-issued weapons, body armor, and helmets.
At least three of what appear to be six soldiers who were killed and beheaded are shown. Their heads are displayed on top of rocks. The body of one Pakistani soldier, who was not beheaded, was thrown down the mountainside.
Although the date of the Taliban attack on the Pakistani soldiers was not provided in the video, a spokesman for Umar Media told The Long War Journal that "this fight was held on 22 June 2012."
The Pakistani media did not report the deaths of Pakistani soldiers in South Waziristan within three days before or after June 22, 2012. The nearest report of Pakistani soldiers killed in South Waziristan was on June 18, 2012, when two soldiers were said to have been killed in an attack on the Ladha area of South Waziristan.

Continue & Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/03/pakistani_taliban_ex_1.php#ixzz2MfY8nJWa

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• Pakistani Taliban execute, behead soldiers in South Waziristan (longwarjournal.org)

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Pakistan to free 8 more jailed Taliban leaders

Afghan high peace council officials on Thursday said around 8 more Taliban leaders will be freed from Pakistani jails during the next 2 or 3 days.

Masoom Stanekzai chief of the Afghan high peace council secretariat said Afghan and Pakistani officials are discussing to release further Taliban leaders from jailed in Pakistan.

However Mr. Stanekzai did not disclose further information if Taliban leader Mullah Brother was among those who will be freed from the jail.

This comes as Afghan high peace council chief Salahuddin Rabbani visited Pakistan along with a delegation of Afghan officials in a bid to pave the way for the Afghan peace talks.

In the meantime Afghan ambassador in Islamabad Mohammad Omer Daudzai called the Afghan peace delegation visit to Pakistan vital and historical.

He said the peace delegation visit was important and will be accompanied by major achievements since the Afghan peace officials visited Pakistan with a clear agenda.

Mr. Daudzai did not disclose further information regarding the peace talks however he said that a number of the prominent Taliban detainees will be freed from the Pakistani jails.

This comes as a delegation of the Afghan high peace council headed by Professor Burhanduddin Rabbani visited Pakistan in January 2011 to discuss Afghan peace talks with the Pakistani officials.

There were no major achievements in Afghan peace talks despite commitments by Pakistan to assist Afghan peace negotiations.

But Afghan ambassador to Pakistan Mohammad Daud Stanekzai said the meeting by Afghan peace delegation in Pakistan was different from the previous visits.

from KHAAMA
By Sajad - Thu Nov 15, 1:33 pm

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Pakistan fire 80 missiles in eastern Kunar province

Local authorities in eastern Afghanistan announced Pakistani military forces fired at least 80 missiles in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan during the past two days in the latest wave of cross-border incursion.

Kunar provincial governor spokesman Wasifullah Wasifi said at least 3 Afghan civilians were injured following the Pakistani military shelling.

Mr. Wasifi further added at least 43 missiles were fired on Sunday while 37 more missiles were fired on Monday in Dangam district of eastern Kunar province.

This comes as local officials in eastern Afghanistan earlier said hundreds of missiles and heavy shells were fired in eastern bordering regions of Afghanistan with Pakistan during the past one year.

The officials further added several Afghan civilians were killed or injured following the attacks besides forcing the local residents to flee from their homes.

Local residents in Kunar province have launched protests against the cross-border incursions and a number of political groups have criticized the Afghan government in this regard.

Afghan parliament members also dismissed interior and defense ministers for being failed to prevent the cross-border shelling by Pakistani military forces.

Afghan government officials have repeatedly warned to file a complain against the cross-border shelling with the UN Security Council however it seems that the cross-border incursion still continues in eastern Afghanistan.

from KHAAMA
By Sajad - Tue Sep 04, 9:39 pm

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Kashmiri jihadist commander killed in North Waziristan drone strike

By Bill Roggio - August 24, 2012 - LWJ

A jihadist commander known to have fought in Kashmir was one of several "militants" killed a US drone strike in the Shawal Valley in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan last weekend. His funeral was attended by the head of the Hizbul Mujahideen and by a prominent Pakistani politician.

The commander, who was known as Engineer Ahsan Aziz, died in the Aug. 18 strike in the village of Shuwedar in the Shawal Valley that killed six people, according to a report in Geo News. The jihadist's father, Abdul Aziz, who is also "a former militant commander," told the Pakistani news service that his son and his son's wife were killed in the airstrike.

Engineer Ahsan has been based in the Waziristan tribal areas for a decade and fought in Afghanistan, according to his father.

"Aziz said his son had moved with his wife to Waziristan in 2002 to participate in the jihad in Afghanistan," The Daily Excelsior reported.

Engineer Ahsan "was part of the deep bench of Pakistani jihadists who have stepped in to fill mid and senior level leadership positions in al Qaeda" as the terror group's legacy leaders have been killed in drone strikes, a senior US military intelligence official told The Long War Journal.

"There are many more like him [Ahsan], serving as the backbone of al Qaeda, in the tribal areas and throughout Pakistan," the intelligence official said.
A senior Pakistani politician and the leader of Hizbul Mujahideen, an al Qaeda-linked terror group, both attended Engineer Ahsan's funeral service, which was held in Kashmir, according to The Daily Excelsior.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the former emir of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a political party that supports the Taliban, led the prayer service.

Syed Salahuddin, the emir of Hizbul Mujahideen, was also in attendance, as were several "leaders of the Hurriyat Conference and Jamaat-e-Islami."

Hizbul Mujahideen is a jihadist group with close ties to other Pakistani terror groups that focuses on fighting in Jammu and Kashmir, but also supports al Qaeda and other jihadist groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It receives support from Pakistan's military and the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI). In May 2011, Salahuddin admitted that the Pakistani military allows him to run "hundreds of training camps in the state where we recruit and train the mujahideen."

Salahuddin is also the chairman of the United Jihad Council, which is supported by the Pakistani military and the ISI, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal. The Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, two groups that are on the US and United Nations lists of terror organizations, are part of the United Jihad Council. Salahuddin has close ties to the Lashkar-e-Taiba and its charitable front, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa.

In July, Salahuddin spoke at a fundraising and recruiting drive for jihad in Afghanistan and India, and said Pakistan is the victim of a US and Israeli conspiracy. At the conference, which was held in Rawalpindi, he stated that his fighters were waging jihad against the US.

"Pakistan is the target of the US-Israeli nexus. Our fighters are defending Pakistan at a time when its geographical boundaries, its security and Islamic identity are at risk," Salahuddin said. "We are fighting in Kashmir. It doesn't matter to us if we are labelled terrorists. We are proud to be called terrorists for fighting the US and its allies in Afghanistan."

The Pakistani government refuses to act against Salahuddin and other terrorist leaders, despite their direct involvement in terrorist activities.

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/08/kashmiri_jihadist_co.php#ixzz24YKE4P98

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Suicide assault team attacks Pakistani airbase in Punjab

Map of Pakistan (Photo credit: Omer Wazir)

By Bill Roggio - August 15, 2012 - LWJ

A suicide assault team attacked a Pakistani airbase in Punjab province that is known to house nuclear weapons.

The assault team, which is reported to have up to six members, attacked the Kamra Air Force Base in Attock district in Punjab at 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 16, according to Dawn. The terrorist team was wearing military uniforms and was "armed with automatic weapons, grenades and suicide vests."

The gunmen opened fire after being stopped at a checkpoint and then reportedly fought their way to the airstrip, where some 30 fighter and attack aircraft are kept, according to reports. Pakistani Army commandos and Air Force security personnel engaged and killed six members of the suicide assault team, according to SAMAA. One of those killed was said to be a "foreigner," but his identity and country of origin have not been disclosed. Two Pakistani soldiers were killed and an Air Commodore was wounded during the fighting.

While no group has claimed credit, the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and the Punjabi Taliban are the prime suspects. On Aug. 1, The Express Tribune reported that Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, had allocated funds to attack "PAF base Lahore, the Inter-Services Intelligence, Military Intelligence, Intelligence Bureau and the Counter Terrorism Department office in the province."

The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan has conducted numerous attacks against government installations in Punjab in the past. In July, the group executed two attacks in Punjab against security personnel. On July 12, the Taliban claimed credit for an attack that day on a police facility in Lahore that killed eight policemen, as well as a July 9 attack in Gurjat that killed six soldiers and a policeman.

The attack at Kamra Air Force Base is similar to another assault, which took place on May 22, 2011 at Pakistani Naval Station Mehran in Karachi. During that assault, the Taliban destroyed two US-made 3C Orion maritime surveillance planes and damaged another, and killed 10 Pakistani troops.

Another brazen attack took place at Army General Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Oct. 10, 2009. A suicide assault team stormed the facility and took control of several buildings before being killed. Six Pakistani soldiers, including a brigadier general and a lieutenant colonel, and four terrorists were killed during the siege.

The Taliban have conducted an attack once before at Kamra Air Force Base, in December 2007. A suicide bomber wounded seven Pakistani personnel in that attack. Additionally, suicide bombers have conducted attacks at a nearby weapons facility thought to be associated with Pakistan's nuclear program.

In August 2008, two Taliban suicide bombers killed 70 Pakistani employees when the bombers detonated outside the gates of the Wah Cantt. And in October 2009, a suicide bomber struck at the nearby Kamra Air Weapon Complex, killing four civilians. The Kamra facility is one of three military industrial production facilities in the Wah Cantt and is believed to be connected with Pakistan's nuclear weapons program. Components for nuclear weapons are thought to be stored at the facility disassembled, and can be assembled within hours of needed use.

Suicide bombers have also conducted an attack at the Sargodha Air Force Base, in November 2007. In that attack, a suicide bomber drove his motorcycle into a bus carrying military and intelligence officers at the air base, killing eight Pakistanis. The Sargodha Air Force Base is the headquarters of the Central Air Command and houses nuclear-capable F-16 strike aircraft and ballistic missiles. Nuclear weapons are also thought to be stored at the base.

In the past, the Pakistani government and the military have issued multiple statements assuring the Pakistani people and the West that the country's nuclear weapons are safeguarded and incapable of falling into the hands of terrorists. The US government has alternated between expressing confidence and voicing concern over the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons.

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/08/suicide_assault_team_13.php#ixzz23hPMKkD3

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Al Qaeda calls on jihadists to attack NATO supplies, 'secure the back' of the Afghan Taliban

By Bill Roggio - August 9, 2012 - LWJ

Al Qaeda's top spokesman for Pakistan called on jihadists in Pakistan to attack NATO supply convoys to "secure the back" of al Qaeda's ally, the Afghan Taliban.

Ustad Ahmad Farooq, al Qaeda's spokesman for Pakistan, made the plea in a videotaped statement that was released today on jihadist web forums. The statement was obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

"On this occasion I urge our Mujahid brothers from Karachi and Makran to Khyber that they must pay special attention to targeting American and NATO supply lines," Farooq said. Makran is a coastal area in Baluchistan that includes the port of Gwadar.

Farooq said jihadists should target not only the convoys, but also the owners of the trucking companies that are contracted to ship supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan.

"Destroy with land mines the containers that carry the instruments of death for our Afghan brothers," Farooq continued. "Wipe out these convoys with guerrilla operations. Target the owners of companies that have contracts for supply ... in short secure the back of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan by any means necessary!"

Farooq berated the Pakistani military and government for their ties to the US, and for accepting the reopening of the supply lines and for allowing the continuation of drone strikes. He described Pakistan's leadership as "slaves" who have sold out Muslims, and who "safeguards its own seat of power and protects its vested interests."

Farooq also urged "the scholars of this nation, callers to the religion and all people of virtue and honour in Pakistan to express their disavowal with this act of treachery with the Jihad in Afghanistan." He said that Pakistan's religious political parties "still have enough power left that if they seek Allah's help, earnestly resolve to stop this series of treachery with the Jihad in Afghanistan using all permissible means and start a mass movement against drone attacks and NATO supplies, the government and army will be forced to submit to their demands in a matter of days."

Pakistan reopened NATO's supply routes into Afghanistan in July , more than seven months after they were shut down following the deaths of 24 Pakistanis in a clash with US soldiers at the border between Afghanistan's Kunar province and Pakistan's Mohmand tribal agency. Twenty-four Pakistani troops were killed after they opened fire on US and Afghan troops operating in Kunar [see LWJ report, Pakistani fire, mutual errors led to Mohmand troop deaths: ISAF inquiry]. Supplies into Afghanistan have barely trickled through the Pakistani border over the last five weeks.

Al Qaeda's call to attack NATO's supply lines follows that of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, a Taliban group that is based in the tribal areas and the northwest. One day after the supply line was reopened, Ihsanullah Ihsan, the group's spokesman, said that the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan will "carry attacks on NATO supplies with a new spirit." Attacks against NATO supply columns and the companies that transport the supplies have been sporadic since Ihsan made his pronouncement, however.

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/08/al_qaeda_calls_on_ji.php#ixzz235hvcoOw

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Hundreds up in arms against rebels in Kunar

Districts of Kunar. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ASADABAD (PAN): Hundreds of residents of the Marwara district of eastern Kunar province have risen against Pakistani Taliban, with the Afghan militants trying to broker peace between the two sides.

A resident of the district, Abdul Haq, told Pajhwok Afghan News the uprising involved residents of Chinar and Petaw villages. He claimed more than 300 armed residents were taking part in the uprising.

Residents decided last night to take up arms against the Pakistani rebels who had started harassing innocent civilians, Haq said.

A participant of the uprising, Siraj, said there was a clash between residents and Pakistani Taliban soon after the action began. Two guerrillas were injured in the firefight, while residents suffered no casualties.

Siraj said an Afghan Taliban commander in the district, Qari Ziaur Rahman, had launched efforts to broker peace between the two sides. Officials confirmed the uprising, but gave no details.

Residents of the Taliban-infested Andar district of southern Ghazni have also launched a similar campaign against rebels. The Andar initiative inspired residents of Laghman, Paktia and Faryab to follow in their footsteps to get rid of the insurgents.

from Pajhwok
by Khan Wali Salarzai on Jul 26, 2012 - 16:27

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Pakistani Taliban release video of beheaded Pakistani soldiers

By Bill Roggio - June 28, 2012 - LWJ


 The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan has released video showing the remains of 17 Pakistani soldiers who were beheaded after being captured and executed during fighting in the northwestern district of Dir just three days ago.

The graphic video, which was obtained by The Long War Journal, was sent to journalists by Ihsanullah Ihsan, a spokesman for the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan.

The videotape includes a statement by Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. Hakeemullah promises that the Taliban will continue to fight the Pakistani military until the government enforces sharia, or Islamic law, and stops supporting the US in the region.

In the video, the Taliban show the heads of 17 Pakistani soldiers displayed on a white sheet; the Taliban claim that 18 soldiers were killed during the fighting. The Taliban fighters are standing around the gruesome display, holding weapons as the camera pans back and forth to show the soldiers' remains. The Taliban then show the military identification cards of the slain soldiers.

The 17 soldiers were killed after more than 100 Taliban fighters crossed the border from Kunar province in Afghanistan and attacked the Pakistani troops. Sirajuddin Ahmad, a spokesman for the Malakand Taliban, which operates under the command of Mullah Fazlullah, initially claimed credit for the attack and said 17 soldiers were killed.

"Our fight will continue until the establishment of sharia law in Pakistan .... We will fight whoever tries to stand in our way," Ahmad told Reuters the day after the battle.

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/06/pakistani_taliban_re_3.php#ixzz1z5FAXadz

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2 injured in fresh Pakistani missile strike

Districts of Kunar. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ASADABAD (PAN): Two more people were injured after missiles fired by Pakistani forces hit southern Kunar province of Afghanistan, officials said on Wednesday.

More than 50 missiles landed in Dangam district of the province, injuring two people and damaging properties, the governor’s spokesman Washifullah Wasifi told Pajhwok Afghan News.

The missiles are fired by Pakistani forces on the bordering areas of the district, he said.

Almost 130 missiles were aimed at the area from outside the Durand line that created security chaos for people and many forced to migrate from the area, said Nisar Ahmad, a local resident.

He asked the government to stop the missile strikes from the neighbouring country and help the displaced people.

On Tuesday a child was killed after Pakistani troops fired missiles landed in the area. 

from Pajhwok
by Khan Wali Salarzai on Jun 27, 2012 - 11:08

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Officials: Pakistani security forces capture key al Qaeda leader

from CNN

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani security forces arrested a key al Qaeda leader near the nation's border with Iran, military officials said Wednesday.

They arrested French national Naamen Maziche, who was in charge of some of the terror network's international operations, according to the Pakistani military officials. They did not want to be named because they are not authorized to talk to the media.

Maziche is a close aide of al Qaeda leader Younis Al Mauretani, the officials said.

Pakistani intelligence agents arrested Mauretani and three aides in September 2011. At the time of his arrest, Pakistani officials said he sought to attack targets in the United States, Europe and Australia.

Osama bin Laden had asked Mauretani to focus on hitting targets of economic importance in the U.S. such as oil pipelines, dams and oil tankers, Pakistani officials said at the time.

Mauretani told investigators Maziche was in Iran and possibly headed to Africa, the officials said.

The exact time and place of Maziche's arrest was unclear.


By Reza Sayah, CNN
June 20, 2012 -- Updated 1049 GMT (1849 HKT)

CNN video:
 

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At least 15 militants killed in Dir, Orakzai

ORAKZAI: At least six militants were killed by Pakistani forces, in an act of retaliation, at the Pak-Afghan border on Thursday, DawnNews reported.

Pakistani forces opened their fire after they were attacked by the militants from the other side of the border.

The incident took place in the mountain region of upper Dir area.

Meanwhile in Orakzai agency’s Mamuzai area, jet-bombing of the Pakistani forces killed at least nine militants and their hideouts were also demolished.

According to the sub-collector Hameed Khan, “Jet-bombing of the Pakistani security forces on suspected militant hideouts, at least nine militants were killed and six hideouts were destroyed in Mamuzai area of Orakzai.”

“Ninety two percent of Orakzai area is not under the control of the militants, ” security sources said.

from DAWN
4 hours ago

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4 troops killed in check post attack in NW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, June 5 (Xinhua) -- At least four troops and 20 militants were killed when unidentified militants attacked an army check post in Pakistan's northwest tribal region of Mohmand on early Tuesday morning, local Urdu Tv channel Dawn reported.

NATO troops also attacked the same check post on November 26 last year, killing 24 troops and injuring 13 others. The incident resulted in U.S. pullout from Pakistani air bases and closure of NATO supply routes by Pakistani authorities.

Tuesday's attack occurred in wee hours of morning when an unknown number of unidentified militants stormed an army check post in Salala area of Mohmand Agency, a tribal region at Pakistan- Afghanistan border.

Four troops were killed in the attack, and 20 militants lost their lives in retaliatory attack by Pakistan army.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack yet, and there are no reports whether the attack was carried out by Pakistan Taliban or Afghan Taliban.

Presently, Pakistan Army maintains an 8,200-man presence in Mohmand Agency.

The security forces claimed last September that 90 percent of Mohmand Agency has been cleared of the Taliban militants. Tuesday' s check post attack is an indication that militants are coming back again in the area.

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2 killed, 27 injured following blast in eastern Lahore city

Map of Pakistan (Photo credit: Omer Wazir)

According to Pakistani security officials, at least 2 people were killed and 27 others were injured following a bomb explosion in the eastern city of Lahore in Pakistan’s Punjab province on Tuesday.

The officials further added the incident took place after a bomb went off at the main railway station Lahore city.

A senior Pakistani police official Aslam Tareen said, the explosion took place after a bag full of explosives went off near one of the counters at the railway station. He also said around 6-8 kilograms of explosives were packed inside the bag.

He also added security officials have launched probes to find out how the bag was taken to the railway station despite tight security and several scanners.

In the meantime a health official said at least 5 individual who were injured following the explosion are in a critical health condition.

This comes at least 13 people were killed and more than 50 others were injured after a teenager suicide bomber below himsself near a religious procession of Shi’ite Muslims in this city at the beginning of 2011.

No group has so far claimed responsibility behind today’s explosion.

from KHAAMA

photos from Khalid Khan: yfrog.com/ob66540797j 

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Wanted Pakistani man surfaces in video

Adnan Rashid, one of Pakistan's most-wanted persons, has made a brazen appearance on a Pakistani Taliban video days after escaping a northwestern Pakistan prison.

Rashid, one of the orchestrators of a plot to assassinate Pervez Musharraf, the former Pakistani president, was freed eight years and four months into a death sentence when armed men associated with the Pakistani Taliban stormed the prison last week.

Al Jazeera's Anu Nathan has this report.

from AlJazeera

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US drone strike kill at least 10 militants in N. Waziristan

According to Pakistani security officials, at least 10 suspected militants were killed following a drone strike in North-Waziristan on Wednesday.

The latest drone strike is considered to be the fifth unacknowledged Central Intelligence Agency drone strike this year after the programme was halted following the assassination of 24 Pakistani soldiers on November last year.

At least two missiles were fired at a house suspected of being a militant hideout in the village of Thapi.

Pakistani security officials said, the building was completely destroyed and 10 suspected militants were killed.

Security officials and villagers said the dead included foreign fighters but they did not specify their nationalities.

from KHAAMA 

-----

US drones kill 8 'militants' in North Waziristan strike

By Bill Roggio - February 8, 2012

Unmanned US strike aircraft launched missiles at terrorists based in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan today, killing eight "militants" in an area known to serve as an al Qaeda haven.

The Predators or Reapers, more commonly called drones, fired a pair of missiles at a compound in the town of Tappi near Miramshah, Pakistani officials told AFP. The Taliban have cordoned off the site of the strike and are conducting recovery operations. This is often a sign that a senior operative or leader was present.

"Eight militants were killed and two wounded," the Pakistani official told AFP. "Militants have surrounded the compound and are removing the dead bodies."
The exact target of the strike has not been disclosed, and the identity of those killed is not known.
Terrorists are known to have sheltered in the village of Tapi in the past. The US has struck at targets in the village five other times since the beginning of 2008, according to data on the strikes that has been compiled by The Long War Journal.

The Haqqani Network, a Taliban group that operates in North Waziristan as well as in eastern Afghanistan, administers the area where today's attack took place. Al Qaeda leaders and operatives, who are closely allied with the Haqqani Network, shelter in the area, as do other terror groups.
Today's strike is the first in Pakistan's tribal areas in 15 days, and just the fourth this year. All four strikes this year have taken place in or around Miramshah in North Waziristan, a stronghold of the Haqqani Network.

The first strike this year took place on Jan. 11; it was the first by the US in Pakistan in 55 days. The previous strike took place on Nov. 16, 2011. The pause was the longest since the program was ramped up at the end of July 2008 [see LWJ report, US drone strikes in Pakistan on longest pause since 2008, from Dec. 19, 2011].

The program was put on hold from the end of November to the second week in January, following a clash between US forces and Pakistani Frontier Corps troops on the border of the Afghan province of Kunar and the Pakistani tribal area of Mohmand on Nov. 25-26. The US troops struck in Pakistan after taking mortar and machine gun fire on the Afghan side of the border from Pakistani troops. Twenty-four Pakistani Frontier Corps troops were killed.

The clash led to Pakistan's closure of the border crossings in Chaman and Khyber to NATO supply columns destined for Afghanistan; the supply lines remain closed to this day. In the aftermath of the Mohmand incident, Pakistan also threatened to shoot down US drones flying in Pakistani airspace, and ejected US drones and personnel from the Shamsi Airbase in Baluchistan.

US officials told The Long War Journal on Dec. 12, 2011 that the program had been put "on hold" due to tensions over the Mohmand incident, but that the drones would strike again if a high value terrorist target that could not be ignored was spotted.

The Jan. 11 strike killed Aslam Awan, a deputy to the leader of al Qaeda's external operations network. Awan was a Pakistani citizen from Abbottabad, the same town where Osama bin Laden was killed by US forces in a cross-border raid in May 2011. Awan is the most senior al Qaeda leader killed in a drone strike since mid-October, when Abu Miqdad al Masri, a member of al Qaeda's Shura Majlis who also was involved in al Qaeda's external operations, was killed. [For a list of senior terrorist leaders and operatives killed in drone strikes, see LWJ report, Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2012.]

Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, was also rumored to have been killed in the Jan. 11 strike. His death has not been confirmed, however, and the Pakistani Taliban have denied he was killed.

The second strike last month, which took place on Jan. 12, killed six "militants," including several "foreigners," according to reports. No senior terrorist leaders or operatives have been reported killed in the Jan. 12 strike.

The third strike in January took place on the Jan. 23 and is said to have killed four terrorists from Turkmenistan. The Turkmen fighters may have been members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan or one of the smaller Central Asian terrorist groups, such as Jund al Khilafa, that operate in Pakistan's tribal areas.

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/02/us_drones_killed_8_m.php#ixzz1lmZsiXD9

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US drone strike kills four in Pakistan: officials

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan — A US drone fired missiles into a vehicle, killing four militants in Pakistan's Taliban and Al-Qaeda hub of North Waziristan on Monday that hugs the Afghan border, security officials said.

It was only the third such US attack reported in the nuclear-armed state so far this year, following a moratorium after US firepower inadvertently killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November, plunging relations to an all-time low.

The attack took place at Degan village, some 25 kilometres (15 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan, the Pakistani officials said.

"A US drone fired two missiles into a vehicle and four militants were killed," a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Local intelligence officials said the dead militants were from Turkmenistan, but their exact identities were not immediately known.

"The vehicle burst into flames after the missiles hit. Militants have cordoned the area and (are) taking out the bodies," a local official told AFP.

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• US Predators kill 4 'militants' in North Waziristan (www.longwarjournal.com)

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