 |
| |
WEEKLY
SECTIONS |
 |
 |
 |
|
| 80 die as drones hit Baitullah’s hideouts |
|
|
|
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Senior militant commander among the dead; first-ever attack on militant leader’s hometown
By Mushtaq Yusufzai & Irfan Burki
PESHAWAR/WANA: About 80 people, including a senior commander of the Baitullah Mehsud-led militants, Khwaz Wali Mehsud, were killed and several others sustained injuries in two separate attacks by US spy planes on a suspected militant hideout and funeral prayers at Lattaka village of Ladha tehsil in South Waziristan Agency on Tuesday, private TV channels reported.
However, militant sources said the death toll in the two drone attacks was around 70-80.A US drone on Tuesday morning fired three missiles at a suspected militant hideout at Lattaka village, killing six militants, including senior Taliban commander Khwaz Ali. Khwaz Ali was said to be one of Baitullah Mehsud’s close and trusted commanders.
Five other people killed in the attack were said to be local tribal militants.Tribal sources said it was the first-ever attack by US spy planes on the Shabikhel area of South Waziristan — hometown of Baitullah Mehsud.
Seven other militants injured in the air attack were said to be low-level tribal militants.The house where the militants were holed up was destroyed in the missile strikes. Sources said two pick-up trucks parked outside the house were also damaged in the air strikes by US spy planes.
Tribal sources said rescue work for retrieving bodies of the slain militants and the injured people was started later as the drones were still hovering over the town even after the attack on the house. They said bodies of the militants and the injured people were retrieved later when the drones disappeared. According to sources, bodies of majority of the killed militants were badly disfigured beyond recognition.Later, when the militants and villagers offered funeral prayers of the deceased militants at the village graveyard, two more missiles were fired on the venue.
Sources close to the militants told The News that majority of the people after attending funeral prayers of the slain militant commander Khwaz Ali had started leaving the venue and few were there to have a final glimpse of the late Taliban commander when came under missile attack. They said two US drones all of a sudden appeared over the town and fired two missiles on the gathering killing over 60 people, majority of them militants.
A government official based at the nearby Razmak town in North Waziristan told The News by phone that thick smoke billowing out of the spot could be seen from distant villages.There were reports that senior militant commanders, including Baitullah Mahsud himself had arrived there to attend funeral of the slain militant commander Khwaz Ali.
Some reports said dreaded militant commander and master-trainer of suicide bombers Qari Hussain and prominent Afghan Taliban commander Maulvi Sangeen were also killed in the missile attack.
It could be a serious setback to Baitullah Mahsud and his network if Qari Hussain was really dead in the attack.However, sources close to Maulvi Sangeen Zadran denied his presence at the funeral.
ìHe did not attend funeral of the people died in drone attack in South Waziristan. Let me assure you he was not there and is safe,î said one of his close militant colleagues, but wished not to be named.
He said senior Taliban commanders had very earlier stopped travelling parts of South Waziristan especially after the government launched military operation against Baitullah Mahsud.Also, he claimed important militant commanders always avoid attending gatherings like funerals, marriage ceremonies and public meetings due to security concerns.
Sources in Makeen said the injured could not be shifted to hospitals outside the restive tribal region as all roads had been blocked by the security forces to stop infiltration of the militants.It is pertinent to mention that US drones targeted militant hideouts at a time when Pakistani security forces launched offensive against Baitullah Mahsud and his fighters in South Waziristan. The governmentís strategy this time seems different than the past.
The government on one hand is pounding militantsí positions by jet fighters and gunship choppers and on the other creating splits among the militants affiliated with Baitullah Mahsud.Third part of the government strategy is to seek support from resourceful Nato and US forces based in Afghanistan against the militants. The Tuesdayís two separate attacks by the US drones were said to be part of that strategy.
|
|
|
| Back
| Send
this story to Friend | Print
Version |
|
|
‘Al-Qaeda, Taliban leaders not in Pakistan’
ISLAMABAD: Strongly reacting to some of the reports of the presence of al-Qaeda and Taliban leadership in Pakistan by the US newspapers and some intelligence agencies, President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday said more |
|
|
Mulla Omar in Karachi, claims WT
WASHINGTON: Mulla Muhammed Omar, the leader of the Afghan Taliban, has fled Quetta and found refuge from the potential US attacks in Karachi with the assistance of Pakistan’s intelligence, the Washington Times more |
|
|
Will PM intervene or will robber barons kill CCP?
By Mehtab Haider
ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has warned that it will cease to exist and its actions will become invalid in case the government fails to re-promulgate the Competition Ordinance on or b more |
|
|
Eight militants die in US drone attack
By our correspondent
MIRAMSHAH: Eight militants were killed and two others injured when a US drone hit a house in the Michikhel area in North Waziristan on Friday, the second such attack in less than 24 hours.
Tribal sources sai more |
|
|
19 militants killed in SWA, Khyber, Bajaur clashes
By our correspondents
WANA/BARA/KHAR: Nineteen militants were killed in clashes with security forces in South Waziristan, Khyber and Bajaur tribal regions on Friday.
Tribal and officials sources said five militants were kille more |
|
|
|
Pakistan has nothing to fear from India: Singh
WASHINGTON: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said India is ready to resolve all outstanding issues with the country on the condition that it will not allow its territory to be used against its neighbour more |
|
|
|
Qureshi wants result-oriented dialogue with India
MULTAN: Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmud Qureshi said on Friday Pakistan wanted meaningful and result-oriented bilateral negotiations with India.
Addressing a press conference at the airport here, h more |
|
|
|
Only 15 pc believe Pakistan is going right
By Gibran Peshimam
KARACHI: Pakistan’s youths are losing confidence in the future and a mere 15 per cent believe that the country is heading in the right direction, while 72 per cent feel economically worse off than a year ago. O more |
|
|
|
Mustafa Jatoi passes away
ISLAMABAD: Former caretaker prime minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi breathed his last at the St Marry Hospital in London on Friday after a protracted illness. He was 78.
He leaves behind six sons and three d more |
|
|
|
Slaughter of animals, NRO beneficiaries begins on Eid
By Muhammad Ahmad Noorani
ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) will soon announce its strategy to deal with the cases which are going to reopen on Nov 28, a NAB spokesman told The News on Friday.
“The NAB chairman more |
|
|
|
WFP, Rescue 15 attacks’ mastermind arrested
By Shakeel Anjum
ISLAMABAD: The Capital Police on Friday arrested the mastermind behind the attacks on the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Rescue 15 offices in Islamabad.
The terrorist, identified as Jamshed Ahmad more |
|
|
|
Mushahid asks Karzai not to allow use of Afghan land against Pakistan
By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Secretary General Pakistan Muslim League-Q Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Friday asked President Hamid Karzai not to allow the use of Afghan land against Pakistan under Indian designs.
“Pakistan wa more |
|
|
|
No Indo-Pak FMs meeting: Nirupama
NEW DELHI: India on Friday said no meeting had been scheduled between foreign ministers of Pakistan and India in Port of Spain later this month on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting ( more |
|
|
|
US to tighten control of Afghan contracts: Gates
HALIFAX: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday that the United States must tighten control of Afghan development contracts as a first step towards stemming rampant corruption.
“The reality is more |
|
|
|
China has stake in Kashmir: Mirwaiz
News Desk
HELD SRINAGAR: As he plans to visit China, Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday kicked up a controversy by saying that Beijing has a “direct link” with the Kashmir issue, drawing strong obje more |
|
|
|
Clinton favours Indo-Pak dialogue on Kashmir
WASHINGTON: The United States is encouraging Pakistan and India to resume their dialogue to address Kashmir and other outstanding disputes but any solution must come from the two countries, Secretary of State H more |
|
|
|
Competition Commission forces PIA to fly fair
By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Silent prayers of many Hajis have apparently been answered as the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has ordered PIA to refund within 60 days the excessive fares charged from the passengers, wh more |
|
|
|
Attack on policemen in Peshawar
By Javed Aziz Khan
PESHAWAR: The death toll in the bomb attack on police party in Yakatoot rose to three after a sub-inspector and another cop succumbed to injuries at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) on Friday as the city mourned more |
|
|
|
‘Musharraf funnelling money to improve image’
ISLAMABAD: Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf has reportedly funnelled a large amount of money to his former aides in the country in order to improve his image, as he is planning a return to the c more |
|
|
|
Sen Lugar’s wife arrested, charged with drinking, hit-and-run
News Desk
WASHINGTON: The wife of Republican Senator Richard G Lugar was arrested in the suburb of McLean on Wednesday night after crashing into a parked car, and she was charged with drunk driving and hit-and-run, the F more |
|
|
|
briefs...
Bombers kill 23 in Afghanistan
HERAT: Bomb attacks on Friday killed 23 people in Afghanistan, a deadly start to President Hamid Karzai’s second term that underscored spiralling insecurity nine years into more |
|
|
|
ISSN 1563-9479 
