Today the US launched its first drone strike in Pakistan's
Taliban-controlled tribal agency in nearly a month. The strike in North
Waziristan targeted an abandoned school that is known to be used by
foreign fighters.
The unmanned Predators or the more heavily armed Reapers fired a pair of missiles at the abandoned high school for girls that is located in the bazaar in Miramshah in North Waziristan. Four "militants" were said to have been killed in the strike, SAMAA reported, but their identity was not disclosed.
"We don't know about their identity and nationality but those living in the girls' school were mostly Arabs," the official said, according to SAMAA. Another Pakistani official told AFP that the school was occupied by Uzbek and Tajik militants, which is likely a reference to the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. The IMU is closely allied with the Haqqani Network and is known to conduct operations with the group in eastern Afghanistan. During a raid in the eastern Afghan province of Wardak on April 25, Coalition special operations forces attempted to capture a senior Haqqani Network operative linked to the IMU's leadership cadre in Pakistan.
A Pakistani security official said today that intelligence officials intercepted communications between the militants that included a request for "four coffins for the slain men." More than two dozen fighters were believed to be occupying the school before it was struck.
Miramshah serves as the headquarters of the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network, a powerful Taliban subgroup that operates in both Afghanistan and Pakistan and is supported by Pakistan's military and its Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate. The Haqqani Network is one of four major Taliban groups that joined the Shura-e-Murakeba, an alliance brokered by al Qaeda late last year. The Shura-e-Murakeba also includes Hafiz Gul Bahadar's group; Mullah Nazir's group; and the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, which is led by Hakeemullah Mehsud and his deputy, Waliur Rehman Mehsud. The members of the Shura-e-Murakeba agreed to cease attacks against Pakistani security forces, refocus efforts against the US, and end kidnappings and other criminal activities in the tribal areas.
The unmanned Predators or the more heavily armed Reapers fired a pair of missiles at the abandoned high school for girls that is located in the bazaar in Miramshah in North Waziristan. Four "militants" were said to have been killed in the strike, SAMAA reported, but their identity was not disclosed.
"We don't know about their identity and nationality but those living in the girls' school were mostly Arabs," the official said, according to SAMAA. Another Pakistani official told AFP that the school was occupied by Uzbek and Tajik militants, which is likely a reference to the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. The IMU is closely allied with the Haqqani Network and is known to conduct operations with the group in eastern Afghanistan. During a raid in the eastern Afghan province of Wardak on April 25, Coalition special operations forces attempted to capture a senior Haqqani Network operative linked to the IMU's leadership cadre in Pakistan.
A Pakistani security official said today that intelligence officials intercepted communications between the militants that included a request for "four coffins for the slain men." More than two dozen fighters were believed to be occupying the school before it was struck.
Miramshah serves as the headquarters of the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network, a powerful Taliban subgroup that operates in both Afghanistan and Pakistan and is supported by Pakistan's military and its Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate. The Haqqani Network is one of four major Taliban groups that joined the Shura-e-Murakeba, an alliance brokered by al Qaeda late last year. The Shura-e-Murakeba also includes Hafiz Gul Bahadar's group; Mullah Nazir's group; and the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, which is led by Hakeemullah Mehsud and his deputy, Waliur Rehman Mehsud. The members of the Shura-e-Murakeba agreed to cease attacks against Pakistani security forces, refocus efforts against the US, and end kidnappings and other criminal activities in the tribal areas.
Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/04/us_drone_strike_kill_3.php#ixzz1tWSjj3eF
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