It may take months before the United States deploys 30,000 new troops to Afghanistan under Barack Obama’s latest surge, but the U.S. military is already rushing to expand its “Drone War” in neighbouring Pakistan’s troubled tribal areas.
Around 4 a.m. on Thursday, a swarm of pilotless Predator drones unleashed 12 Hellfire missiles on two suspected Taliban and al-Qaeda hideouts in the mountain district of Datta Khel in North Waziristan, killing 17 suspected terrorists, including seven “Arabs.”
In the first attack, a remote-controlled drone fired two missiles at a car carrying two insurgents as it entered the village of Dosali around midnight.
Hours later, in an unusual pack attack, five drones attacked two compounds in neighbouring Ambarshaga. Local Pakistani intelligence officials say a withering blast of 10 missiles killed at least 15 insurgents.
The attacks came just a week after a similar raid hit Saleh al-Somali, al-Qaeda’s external operations chief, in a nearby village just a few kilometres from the Afghanistan border.
The attacks mark a dramatic escalation of a remote-control push-button war that has seen the U.S. military deliver punishing body blows to al-Qaeda’s leadership.
Since Mr. Obama came to power in January, his administration has carried out about 50 unmanned drone strikes inside Pakistan, more than the Bush administration in its final three years.
There were only 10 Predator strikes in Pakistan during 2006 and 2007.
Since unveiling his new strategy for the Afghan conflict this month, Mr. Obama is said to have signed off on an expanded Central Intelligence Agency war against al-Qaeda and Taliban targets inside Pakistan, ordering the hunt for Osama bin Laden into overdrive.
U.S. officials are also said to be pushing a reluctant Pakistani government to allow the CIA to extend its drone attacks from North and South Waziristan to Baluchistan, where Afghan Taliban leaders are believed to be hiding in and around Quetta.
U.S. officials refuse to discuss details, but intelligence experts say the sudden surge in activity has killed 14 of the 20 most wanted al-Qaeda terrorists.
Leon Panetta, the CIA director, recently called the spy agency’s drones the “most effective weapon” available to take on Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists.
In the last few months, they have killed hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaeda rebels, decapitating a mid-level leadership responsible for cross-border attacks into Afghanistan and forcing al-Qaeda’s top leaders to worry about their very survival.
Drones are seductive weapons, promising the military the advantage of “higher ground” without risking U.S. lives.
A testament to U.S. technical ingenuity, the drones used in Afghanistan and Pakistan can fly 700 kilometres to their targets, then loiter overhead for 14 hours before returning to their base.
They are equipped with sensor packages that can intercept and analyze electronic signals, and eavesdrop on cellphone calls or simple conversations. Drones can also search out targets — day or night and sometimes even through walls. (News sourced from: www.nationalpost.com)
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