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The US killed four Islamist terrorists in the first airstrike in more than a week in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan. The strike, carried out by unmanned Predator or Reaper attack aircraft, hit a Taliban safe house in the Saidgai region in North Waziristan. Two Hellfire missiles were reported to have been launched in the airstrike. Four "extremists" were killed in the attack and two more were wounded, according to a report in Geo News. The Saidgai region in North Waziristan is under the control of Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadar. The US has conducted two strikes in...

WASHINGTON – Insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan have hacked into live video feeds from Predator drones, a key weapon in a Pentagon spy system that serves as the military's eyes in the sky for surveillance and intelligence collection. Though militants could see the video, there is no evidence they were able to jam the electronic signals from the unmanned aerial craft or take control of the vehicles, a senior defense official said Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence issues. Obtaining the video feeds can provide insurgents with critical information about what the military may be targeting,...

The Long War Journal: US airstrike kills 3 in North Waziristan Written by Bill Roggio on December 18, 2009 9:40 AM to The Long War Journal Available online at: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/12/us_airstrike_kills_t.php The US killed three Islamist terrorists in the third airstrike in two days in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan. The strike, carried out by unmanned Predator or Reaper attack aircraft, hit a Taliban safe house in the Datta Khel region in North Waziristan. Several Hellfire missiles were reported to have been launched in the airstrike. "The US drone missiles hit a house in the mountains," a Pakistani...

"We are told by U.S. officials that a high ranking member of Al Qaeda, not Osama Bin Laden, has been killed today by a U.S. Predator Drone attack."

(CBS) A U.S. government official says a top al Qaeda operative has been killed in a drone attack in western Pakistan and local media says that the strike killed al Qaeda's number 3 in command, Abu Yahya al-Libi, CBS's Sami Yousafzai reports. The U.S. is still not confirming the report, CBS News has learned. Abu Yahya al-Libi is the spiritual successor to Palestinian philosopher Abu Azzam - and the inspiration for much of Bin Laden's beliefs, according to CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan. He is very powerful and believed by some to be the natural successor to...

A high-ranking Al Qaeda figure reportedly was killed Thursday in a U.S. drone aircraft attack in north Pakistan. The attack, first reported by NBC News, was officially denied by Pakistani officials, though sources told Fox News that neither Usama bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri were among those killed. Pakistani media report six militants were killed in the attack, including four foreign fighters, a classification in the tribal areas that typically refers to Al Qaeda. The attack was part of the expanded use of Predator drones recently authorized by the White House, sources told Fox News, though the drone attacks, which...

The US has conducted the first unmanned airstrike in the lawless tribal agency of South Waziristan since the Pakistani Army launched an offensive there in mid-October. The strike, carried out by unmanned Predator or Reaper attack aircraft, hit a Taliban "hideout" in Tanga in the Ladha region in South Waziristan. Ladha is one of several Taliban strongholds that were the target of the Pakistani Army's offensive against the Mehsud branch of the Taliban in South Waziristan. Four al Qaeda operatives and two Taliban fighters were killed in the attack, according to reports from the region. "Eyewitnesses said the toll could...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US Air Force on Tuesday confirmed for the first time that it is flying a stealth unmanned aircraft known as the "Beast of Kandahar," a drone spotted in photos and shrouded in secrecy. The RQ-170 Sentinel is being developed by Lockheed Martin and is designed "to provide reconnaissance and surveillance support to forward deployed combat forces," the air force said in a brief statement. The "RQ" prefix for the aircraft indicates an unarmed drone, unlike the "MQ" designation used for Predator and Reaper aircraft equipped with missiles and precision-guided bombs. Aviation experts dubbed the drone the...

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (Reuters) – A suspected U.S. drone fired two missiles into an al Qaeda and Taliban sanctuary in a Pakistani region the Afghan border on Tuesday, killing at least three militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The strike in the North Waziristan region was the first since U.S. President Barack Obama's speech last week outlining plans to send 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. Obama said Pakistan must not allow its territory to be used as a sanctuary for militants. "One of the missiles hit a vehicle and all three militants in it were killed," an intelligence official told Reuters...

A suspected US drone aircraft fired two missiles in North Waziristan on Friday, killing eight people, the second such attack this week. Eight militants were killed in a US missile strike in northwest Pakistan on Friday, officials said. The United States has carried out 45 attacks with its pilotless, missile-firing aircraft in northwest Pakistan this year as its forces in neighbouring Afghanistan have faced an intensifying Taliban insurgency.

The US has killed four Taliban fighters in just the second airstrike in Pakistan's tribal areas this month. Unmanned aircraft, likely remotely piloted Predator or Reaper drones, hit a Taliban compound in the village of Shanakhora, which lies six miles west of Miramshah in North Waziristan, with two Hellfire missiles. “It was a US drone attack which targeted a militant compound killing four militants and wounding five others,” a senior Pakistani security official in the region told AFP. “The compound was being used by Taliban militants, however it is not clear whether there were any foreign militants or high-value targets,”...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Nov. 18, 2009 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] in May demonstrated the ability of mobile laser weapon systems to perform a unique mission: track and destroy small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). During the U.S. Air Force-sponsored tests at the Naval Air Warfare Center in China Lake, Calif., the Mobile Active Targeting Resource for Integrated eXperiments (MATRIX), which was developed by Boeing under contract to the Air Force Research Laboratory, used a single, high-brightness laser beam to shoot down five UAVs at various ranges. Laser Avenger, a Boeing-funded initiative, also shot down a UAV. Representatives of the...

I don't know if Army chief of staff Gen. George Casey is a liberal, but he sure talks like one: Our diversity, not only in our Army but in our country, is a strength. And as horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that's worse. ... Everyone seems to be so concerned about this massacre causing Americans—always on the verge of rampant intolerance and bigotry—to want to abdicate “diversity” or lead a backlash against Muslim soldiers. (Speaking of diversity, is anyone going to address that this Muslim fundamentalist refused to associate with women? Or...

Last month, the U.S. Air Force created four new UAV squadrons (29th Attack Squadron, 6th Reconnaissance Squadron, 16th Training Squadron and 849th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron). All these new units are actually training squadrons. The air force is training 220 operator crews (each with a pilot and one or two sensor operators) a year. In two years, this will increase to 400 a year, which will enable the air force to run 50 CAPs (Combat Air Patrol; UAVs in the air over a combat zone) simultaneously. The large number of new crews are needed because the pilots only operate UAVs for...

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (Reuters) – A suspected U.S. drone aircraft fired two missiles on Thursday into North Waziristan, a major al Qaeda and Taliban sanctuary in northwest Pakistan, killing two people, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

Golf, too? If there was one sport you'd think might be immune from the liberal slant that has invaded too much of sports reporting, it's golf. The fairways-and-greens guys are known for generally being Republicans. But out of the blue [green?] on a Golf Channel show this afternoon, host Brandel Chamblee took a cheap shot at Dick Cheney with a rather nasty hunting reference. Chamblee, who before retiring from the PGA Tour had one win in 370 career starts, was discussing with co-host Rich Lerner the putting woes of the affable Jason Gore . . . View video here.

Berkeley once again dipped into U.S. foreign policy Tuesday when its City Council unanimously passed a resolution asking the Obama administration to withdraw troops and private armed contractors from Afghanistan and cease drone attacks on Afghanistan and Pakistan. The issue proved to be the liveliest of the evening, with members of the public protesting when councilmembers Susan Wengraf and Linda Maio suggested postponing the item to correct ambiguous wording in the resolution. Code Pink, CopWatch and Berkeley’s Peace and Justice Commission, which recommended the resolution to the council, voiced their support for immediate troop withdrawal. Melody Ermachild Chavis, author of...

UNITED NATIONS – A U.N. human rights investigator warned the United States Tuesday that its use of unmanned warplanes to carry out targeted executions may violate international law. Philip Alston said that unless the Obama administration explains the legal basis for targeting particular individuals and the measures it is taking to comply with international humanitarian law which prohibits arbitrary executions, "it will increasingly be perceived as carrying out indiscriminate killings in violation of international law." Alston, the U.N. Human Rights Council's investigator on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, raised the issue of U.S. Predator drones in a report to the...

The death toll is US drone attack at a compound in Bajaur tribal agency has reached 27, report said. Earlier, it was reported that nearly 14 persons were killed when a US drone fired missiles on a compound in Damadolla area of the agency. The compound was located near the house of local Taliban leader Moulvi Faqeer. Unconfirmed reports from the area said that 11 foreign nationals were also among the dead.

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) – A US drone missile attack on a suspected militant hideout in a remote tribal area in northwest Pakistan early Thursday killed at least four people, security officials said. The pre-dawn strike targeted the suspected militant compound in Dandey Darpa Khel in the North Waziristan region near the Afghan border, a security official said. "It was a drone strike and initial reports said at least three people were killed and several wounded," the official said, requesting anonymity. A senior security official later said four people were killed and six wounded. A third security official said two missiles...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Taliban new chief Hakimullah Mehsud's brother was among 15 militants killed in two US drone attacks in the country's lawless tribal belt, reports said on Wednesday. Hakimullah's brother Kalimullah was among six militants who were killed in the first drone attack in the Sararogha area of South Waziristan Agency yesterday afternoon, Express 24/7 news channel reported. Nine militants were killed in the second drone attack, which was carried out in the evening in the Dandey Darpakhel area of North Waziristan Agency. Several foreigners, including Afghan nationals, were among those killed in the two attacks. Former Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief...

A missile fired from a US drone aircraft Tuesday killed five suspected Taliban in a strike on a militant hideout in Pakistan's restive northwest tribal belt, security officials said. "A missile from a US drone fired on a compound of local Taliban commander Irfan Mehsud killed five militants and injured six," said a security official in the area. A local administrative official confirmed the incident and toll. The attack occurred in the lawless tribal region of South Waziristan, a Taliban bolthole where Washington says Islamist fighters are hiding out and planning attacks on Western troops stationed in neighbouring Afghanistan.

MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) – An unmanned U.S. reconnaissance drone crashed in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul early on Saturday, hitting the offices of one of Iraq's biggest political parties, the U.S. military said. No injuries were reported, and there was no indication the aircraft was shot down, said Major Derrick Cheng, a military spokesman in northern Iraq. Cheng said it was a coincidence that the drone struck the local offices of the Iraqi Islamic Party, Iraq's biggest Sunni Arab political group, the military said. The U.S. military frequently deploys drones in Iraq as part of measures to counter roadside...

An unmanned US strike aircraft fired missiles at the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network in Pakistan’s Taliban-controlled tribal area of North Waziristan. Three people were killed in the attack, which took place near a madrassa run by Jalaluddin Haqqani, the patriarch of the notorious Haqqani family, Reuters reported. The exact location of the strike has not been identified at this time, and no senior Taliban or al Qaeda leaders have been reported killed. The Haqqanis run the Manba Ulom madrassa in the town of Danda Darpa Khel just outside of Miramshah in North Waziristan. The US has conducted several strikes on...

WASHINGTON – The White House is considering expanding counterterror operations in Pakistan to refocus on eliminating al-Qaida instead of mounting a major military escalation in Afghanistan. Two senior administration officials said Monday that the renewed fight against the terrorist organization could lead to more missile attacks on Pakistan terrorist havens by unmanned U.S. spy planes. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because no decisions have been made. Top aides to President Barack Obama said he still has questions and wants more time to decide.

Rogue droid 'was attempting to cross border' An American "Reaper" flying hunter-killer robot assassin rebelled against its human controllers above Afghanistan on Sunday, and a manned US fighter jet was forced to shoot the rogue machine down before it unilaterally invaded a neighbouring country. The Reaper, aka MQ-9 or Predator-B, is a large five-ton turboprop powered machine able to carry up to 14 Hellfire missiles - each capable of destroying a tank or flattening a building. It is used by the US and British forces above Afghanistan as a "persistent hunter-killer against emerging targets". According to USAFCENT Public Affairs: The...

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) – A US drone missile attack Monday killed four militants in a remote Pakistani tribal town bordering Afghanistan, officials said. The missile targeted a militant vehicle in Toori Khel village in North Waziristan region, they said. "Four militants were killed," a local government official said, requesting anonymity. He added the number of wounded was not immediately known.

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (Reuters) – A suspected U.S. drone fired missiles into a hideout of Taliban militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region on Monday, killing five militants, intelligence officials and residents said. The attack took place near Mir Ali town, a major sanctuary for militants linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan's tribal lands on the Afghan border. "The militants have cordoned off the area and no one is allowed to go to the site of the attack," a resident, who did not want to be identified, told Reuters by telephone. An intelligence official said a fortress-like house...

Two senior al Qaeda leaders are among those thought to have been killed in the Sept. 8 Predator strike in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan. Ilyas Kashmiri and Mustafa al Jaziri may have been killed during the strike in the village of Machi Khel near Mir Ali. Unmanned US strike aircraft are reported to have hit a car and a madrassa in the attack, The News reported. Initially five Uzbeks from the Islamic Jihad Group were thought to have been killed, but the report was revised to two Arab al Qaeda members, three Punjabi jihadis, and two or...

WANA: At least eight people were killed and various others injured in a US surveillance plane attack in South Waziristan Agency’s area of Kani Goram, Geo News reported said Thursday. According to Geo News correspondent, at least three missiles were fired at a house in SWA’s Kani Goram, killing eight people and injuring various others. It merits mentioning here Kani Goram is a beautiful area where people used to go for picnic. Ladha is situated nearby, where TTP Chief Baitullah Mehsud were killed in a similar drone attack in Zangra village. The residents of Kani Goram shifted to Tank and...

ISLAMABAD – A suspected missile attack early Friday destroyed a militant hideout in northwest Pakistan, killing at least seven people, two intelligence officials said. The officials said some people also were wounded when the two missiles hit a compound in the village of Dande Darpa Khel, near Miran Shah in troubled tribal region of North Waziristan. ... The area is also believed to be frequented by associates of an Afghan Taliban leader, Siraj Haqqani, whose network is powerful in eastern Afghanistan.

At least ten people have been killed in what appeared to be a US missile strike here in South Waziristan agency, report said on Tuesday. The missile fired by a US drone hit a suspected hideout used by the local militants in Kani Karam area, a foreign news agency claims.

WASHINGTON — Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed last week in a CIA drone attack while getting a leg massage on the roof of his father-in-law's house, CNN said Monday, citing an unnamed US official. A US counterterrorism official told AFP, meanwhile, that "there are strong indications (Mehsud) is dead" following a drone attack. "No one is expecting him home for dinner tonight," the official said. US President Barack Obama is being told Mehsud was killed after a "dramatic escalation" of nine unmanned drones specifically targeting the Taliban leader in recent weeks, the US official told CNN television. On Wednesday...

The raging conflict in Pakistan does, if one tries hard, seem to have some curious aspects. Take the confusion that often surrounds the announced death of a warlord or the other. More than once someone the authorities have declared to be dead has resurfaced most calmly. It does rather seem like despite all that hi-tech gadgetry employed by the US to “assist” Pakistan, they can’t quite always figure out just who they fired that missile at. Or, perhaps, one is being uncharitable. Given the terrain, suited for guerrilla warfare and with all the bearded, turbaned chaps looking virtually like carbon...

Reports from Pakistan say one of the country's most-wanted Taliban leaders is dead — killed by a rocket attack from a U.S. drone. If confirmed, the death of Baitullah Mehsud could be a significant blow to the Islamist militants linked under his umbrella group, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. "There's every indication that it is true," says Daniel Markey, an expert on South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations. "And it could be quite significant." Markey says Mehsud was "above all, the face of the Pakistani Taliban, which was becoming a more serious collective organization, one that U.S. officials saw as being...

Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud may have been killed in a U.S. drone attack, a U.S. official said Friday. "There's reason to believe Mehsud may be dead, but there's no confirmation at this time," the official said. Mehsud's second wife was killed early Wednesday in a suspected U.S. drone attack, according to intelligence sources and relatives. The unmanned aerial vehicle targeted the home of Mehsud's father-in-law, Mulvi Ikram ud Din, and dropped two missiles on the residence in northwestern Pakistan, an intelligence official said. Mehsud's second wife was one of two people killed in the strike, according to the sources....

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – There is a strong likelihood that Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed along with his wife and bodyguards in a missile attack two days ago, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik told Reuters. "We suspect he was killed in the missile strike," Malik said on Friday. "We have some information, but we don't have material evidence to confirm it." The United States has placed a $5 million reward on the head of Mehsud, an ally of al Qaeda widely regarded in Pakistan as Public Enemy No. 1. A U.S. defense official, speaking anonymously in Washington, said he...

PESHAWAR - At least three persons including wife and brother of Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud were killed and several others injured when US drone missiles hit a house in Zangara, in Sara-rogha tehsil of Ladha, S Waziristan.Four missiles hit the house of Ikramuddin, father-in-law of Baitullah Mehsud. As per local residents, wife and brother of Baitullah Mehsud were among the killed persons. They also said that Baitullah was seen in the house on Tuesday last.

ISLAMABAD: A missile, believed to have been fired by a US drone aircraft, hit a house in North Waziristan and killed five suspected Taliban militants, intelligence officials said on Friday. ‘The missile strike took place in Bahadur Kaley village, 30 kilometres south of Miranshah. One missile was fired from the US drone, which targeted a Taliban stronghold,’ one security official told AFP. Resident Ahmad Raza told AFP he heard a loud bang and that Taliban in the area are saying five of their colleagues are dead. ‘The missile strike took place in Bahadur Kaley village, 30 kilometres (19 miles) south...

At least 40 people have been killed in a suspected US missile strike in north-west Pakistan, local officials say. They told the BBC three suspected US drones had fired missiles at militants near Ladha in South Waziristan. It is the third strike in two days, after 19 reportedly died in attacks earlier on Wednesday and on Tuesday. Separately the Pakistani army said a Taliban leader in Swat valley, Maulana Fazlullah, has been wounded, but there has been no independent confirmation. Army spokesman, Major-General Athar Abbas, told reporters: "We have credible information that Maulana Fazlullah has been injured... But it is...

Seven people have died in a second missile strike by a suspected US drone in as many days in north-west Pakistan, officials and residents say. At least three to four missiles hit a suspected training camp for militants in South Waziristan early on Wednesday, witnesses said. At least 12 militants were killed in a similar attack in the area on Tuesday. The attacks are targeting a stronghold of Pakistan's top Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud, in South Waziristan. US officials believe Mr Mehsud is providing both the Taliban and al-Qaeda with a refuge in the region. They have placed a $5m...

At least 12 militants have died in a missile strike by a suspected US drone in north-west Pakistan, intelligence officials and residents say. The attack targeted a stronghold of Pakistan's top Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan, near the Afghan border. The missiles flattened a compound in the Zangarha area, officials said. There have been dozens of such strikes since last August, killing hundreds of militants and civilians. Most strikes have taken place in the tribal regions of North and South Waziristan. Local officials told the BBC Urdu service's Dilawar Khan that a suspected US drone had fired two...

WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) – A U.S. drone aircraft fired missiles on Friday into Pakistan's South Waziristan region, killing 10 militants, officials said, ahead of an expected Pakistani military offensive in the area. The United States, facing a growing Afghan insurgency, began stepping up drone attacks on militant strongholds in lawless enclaves on the Pakistani side of the border a year ago despite Pakistani complaints. Three missiles were fired at militant hideouts in an area near the Afghan border controlled by Pakistani Taliban leader and al Qaeda ally Baitullah Mehsud, killing 10 militants and wounding seven, two intelligence agency officials said....

ISLAMABAD: A suspected US drone attack killed 11 people in the South Waziristan tribal region, intelligence officials said on Friday. The two officials say the attack struck a suspected training facility of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan leader Baitullah Mehsud early Friday in the villages of Montoi in South Waziristan. A suspected militant hide-out in Kokat Khel was also hit. ‘The missiles hit an office of Mufti Noor Wali who was once in charge of training militants for suicide attacks,’ an intelligence official said. He had no word on casualties but a resident of the region said 11 militants had been killed. The...

Note: The following text is a quote: Retired University Professor Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Arms Export Violations Involving Citizen of China John Reece Roth, 72, of Knoxville, Tenn., was sentenced to 48 months in prison for violating the Arms Export Control Act by conspiring to illegally export, and actually exporting, technical information relating to a U.S. Air Force (USAF) research and development contract. The sentencing took place in U.S. District Court in Knoxville before Judge Thomas Varlan, Jr. A former University of Tennessee professor, Roth will serve a term of two years supervised release after completing his...

The US carried out its second Predator airstrike inside South Waziristan today. Unmanned Predator aircraft killed more than 65 Taliban fighters in a follow-on attack near the headquarters for Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. The Predator strike aircraft fired three Hellfire missiles as Taliban fighters gathered for a funeral of Khog Wali, a leader in Baitullah's army in South Waziristan who was among six Taliban fighters killed in the first US airstrike earlier today. Commander Sangeen, a Taliban commander from Afghanistan, was reported to be among those killed in the strike at the funeral. Predators are said to have fired...

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – A U.S. drone attacked militants in Pakistan in Tuesday, killing at least 45 of them, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

At least nine people have been killed in an airstrike on suspected militant targets in Pakistan's tribal region of South Waziristan, local officials say. Pilotless US drone aircraft are thought to have carried out the attack in which missiles were fired at a house near the town of Wana on the Afghan border. Local Taliban fighters are reported to be among the dead. The area is a Taliban and al-Qaeda stronghold. Pakistan says its army is preparing a full-scale assault on the area. See a map of the region A local administration official told the BBC he had seen the...

A US missile strike killed five people in the tribal area of South Waziristan here Sunday, report said. The attack hit in the Laddha region of South Waziristan, where Washington alleges Al-Qaeda and Taliban rebels who fled Afghanistan after the 2001 US-led invasion are holed up, plotting attacks on Western targets.

Reporting from Washington -- The Pentagon is preparing to graduate its first pilots of unmanned drones from the elite U.S. Air Force Weapons School -- a version of the Navy's Top Gun program -- in a bid to elevate the skills and status of the officers who fly Predators, one of the military's fastest growing aircraft programs.... [snip]