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US Drone Strikes 'Kills 40' Mostly Civilians In NW Tribal Region, Pakistan Furious
Spreading Democracy one bomb strike after another which continue to kill civilians.
Pakistan furious as US drone strike kills civilians
http://tribune.com.pk/story/133842/drone-strike-kills-8-in-datta-khel/
PESHAWAR: Barely 24 hours after Islamabad and Washington managed to settle a crippling diplomatic conundrum that was the Raymond Davis issue, a fresh stand-off between the two allies is in the making following a potent drone strike in North Waziristan on Thursday.
In the deadliest attack since 2006, at least 38 people, including tribal elders, were killed in a drone strike when US missiles missed their target and hit a local jirga.
In reaction, Pakistan, through its Foreign Office, has now asked the United States to apologise for the incident.
A strong-worded statement by the Foreign Office said that the strike was, “not only unacceptable but also a flagrant violation of all humanitarian rules and norms.”
It said that Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir had “conveyed this strong condemnation to US Ambassador Cameron Munter and demanded an apology and explanation.”
“Ambassador Hussain Haqqani has also been asked to make a similar strong demarche with the US State Department.”
The drone strike
Locals told The Express Tribune that the attack occurred in the Nayya Adda area of Datta Khel tehsil. The strike that occurred some 40 kilometres west of the agency headquarters Miramshah, also injured another 15 people.
In the second attack in the area in as many days, a US predator targeted a moving vehicle, missed its target as the vehicle moved in the direction of a nearby gathering of tribal elders. In an attempt to hit the militants, the predator fired four more missiles on the gathering.
There were conflicting reports on the number of casualties, with some media reports claiming that 40 people had been killed.
However, sources in the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan told The Express Tribune later in the evening that a total of 32 people were present in the jirga between Kharhtangi and Datakhel tribes. They confirmed the death of 26 people including 12 Taliban and 14 Maliks (tribal elders). The TTP did not give the names of members of their outfit killed, but named the elders who had died.
In a rare statement, Governor Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Masood Kasur, who also oversees the tribal belt on behalf of the president, condemned the attack. A press statement quoted the governor as saying that a tribal jirga was targeted in the attack and it had killed many tribal elders and Khasadar force personnel. “The Pakistani government and people will not tolerate such attacks. They are against the country’s sovereignty,” the statement added.
The governor expressed regret over the loss of lives, referring to the deceased as “martyrs.” He directed authorities for immediate compensation to the families of the victims.
Meanwhile, some sources also suggested that the jirga was presided over by a militant commander loyal to Taliban warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadar, who is known for his close links to the Haqqani network.
Drone attacks, which had decreased during the time CIA contractor Raymond Davis was arrested for killing two Pakistanis, have surged for the past few days in both the North and South Waziristan agencies. Thursday’s lethal strike occurred only a day after Davis was released.
The most lethal strike since the drone campaign started was in the tribal region of Bajaur when 80 people, mostly madrassa students, were killed as missiles hit a training camp. Some reports claim that the attack was carried by helicopters of the Pakistani government and not by US drones.
Datta Khel is one of the most targeted areas in the CIA’s air campaign in Pakistan. At least 120 out of 127 drone attacks carried out during the past year were carried out in North Waziristan Agency, with most of them in Datta Khel tehsil. Forty-five of the 234 strikes, or 19 per cent, have taken place in Datta Khel since the US began carrying out strikes in Pakistan in 2004, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal. And so far this year, eight of the 19 strikes in Pakistan have taken place in Datta Khel.\
BBC version of the same events:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12769209
Spreading Democracy one bomb strike after another which continue to kill civilians.
Pakistan furious as US drone strike kills civilians
http://tribune.com.pk/story/133842/drone-strike-kills-8-in-datta-khel/
PESHAWAR: Barely 24 hours after Islamabad and Washington managed to settle a crippling diplomatic conundrum that was the Raymond Davis issue, a fresh stand-off between the two allies is in the making following a potent drone strike in North Waziristan on Thursday.
In the deadliest attack since 2006, at least 38 people, including tribal elders, were killed in a drone strike when US missiles missed their target and hit a local jirga.
In reaction, Pakistan, through its Foreign Office, has now asked the United States to apologise for the incident.
A strong-worded statement by the Foreign Office said that the strike was, “not only unacceptable but also a flagrant violation of all humanitarian rules and norms.”
It said that Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir had “conveyed this strong condemnation to US Ambassador Cameron Munter and demanded an apology and explanation.”
“Ambassador Hussain Haqqani has also been asked to make a similar strong demarche with the US State Department.”
The drone strike
Locals told The Express Tribune that the attack occurred in the Nayya Adda area of Datta Khel tehsil. The strike that occurred some 40 kilometres west of the agency headquarters Miramshah, also injured another 15 people.
In the second attack in the area in as many days, a US predator targeted a moving vehicle, missed its target as the vehicle moved in the direction of a nearby gathering of tribal elders. In an attempt to hit the militants, the predator fired four more missiles on the gathering.
There were conflicting reports on the number of casualties, with some media reports claiming that 40 people had been killed.
However, sources in the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan told The Express Tribune later in the evening that a total of 32 people were present in the jirga between Kharhtangi and Datakhel tribes. They confirmed the death of 26 people including 12 Taliban and 14 Maliks (tribal elders). The TTP did not give the names of members of their outfit killed, but named the elders who had died.
In a rare statement, Governor Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Masood Kasur, who also oversees the tribal belt on behalf of the president, condemned the attack. A press statement quoted the governor as saying that a tribal jirga was targeted in the attack and it had killed many tribal elders and Khasadar force personnel. “The Pakistani government and people will not tolerate such attacks. They are against the country’s sovereignty,” the statement added.
The governor expressed regret over the loss of lives, referring to the deceased as “martyrs.” He directed authorities for immediate compensation to the families of the victims.
Meanwhile, some sources also suggested that the jirga was presided over by a militant commander loyal to Taliban warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadar, who is known for his close links to the Haqqani network.
Drone attacks, which had decreased during the time CIA contractor Raymond Davis was arrested for killing two Pakistanis, have surged for the past few days in both the North and South Waziristan agencies. Thursday’s lethal strike occurred only a day after Davis was released.
The most lethal strike since the drone campaign started was in the tribal region of Bajaur when 80 people, mostly madrassa students, were killed as missiles hit a training camp. Some reports claim that the attack was carried by helicopters of the Pakistani government and not by US drones.
Datta Khel is one of the most targeted areas in the CIA’s air campaign in Pakistan. At least 120 out of 127 drone attacks carried out during the past year were carried out in North Waziristan Agency, with most of them in Datta Khel tehsil. Forty-five of the 234 strikes, or 19 per cent, have taken place in Datta Khel since the US began carrying out strikes in Pakistan in 2004, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal. And so far this year, eight of the 19 strikes in Pakistan have taken place in Datta Khel.\
BBC version of the same events:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12769209
US drone strike 'kills 40' in Pakistani tribal region
Drone attacks are said to have killed hundreds of people in recent years
At least 40 people have died in a US drone strike in the Pakistani region of North Waziristan, local officials say.
Most of the victims were believed to be civilians attending a tribal meeting near the regional capital, Miranshah.
Earlier reports had said militants were among the dead. The area is an al-Qaeda and Taliban stronghold and US drones regularly target the region.
The latest deaths come amid rising anti-US anger in Pakistan after a CIA contractor was acquitted of murder.
The freeing of Raymond Davis has sparked protests across Pakistan.
Many people are angered that so-called "blood money" reported to amount to more than $2m (£1.24m) was paid to the families of the two men he killed in Lahore. The relatives then pardoned him under Sharia law and the court freed him.
Militants not 'present'
The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says Thursday's drone strike is thought to have killed more civilians than any other such attack since 2006.
Officials say two drones were involved in the latest attack, in the Datta Khel area 40km (25 miles) west of Miranshah.
One missile was fired at a car carrying suspected militants. Local tribesmen say the drones then fired another three missiles at their meeting, or jirga.
Our correspondent says the vehicle was moving close to the site where the jirga was being held in the open. The missiles hit the vehicle as well as the jirga.
According to the tribesmen, they meeting was being held to discuss a local land dispute over the ownership of chromite deposits in the area. They say that no militants were present at the time.
Officials said the drones were targeting militants linked to Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur. One of his commanders, identified as Sharabat Khan, was in the vehicle hit in the attack and was killed, one local official told the BBC.
But most of the dead were tribal people - elders, local traders and members of the tribal police.
The official said 15 bodies had been found intact and identified by local people before being buried. Some of the dead were carried across the border into Afghanistan from where they had come.
Other bodies were blown to pieces, making a body count difficult to determine. There is no way of independently confirming casualty details as the media is denied access to the area.
It is the second drone strike in the area in as many days. On Wednesday a missile strike killed five suspected militants in Datta Khel.
US drone attacks have escalated in the region since President Barack Obama took office. More than 100 raids were reported in the area last year.
The US does not routinely confirm that it has launched drone operations, but analysts say only American forces have the capacity to deploy such aircraft in the region.
The Pakistani authorities deny secretly supporting drone attacks, which have caused great anger in the country. A number of militants, some of them senior, have been killed in the raids, but many civilians have also died.
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