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Pakistan: senior Taliban militants killed by US drone strike Pakistan: senior Taliban militants killed by US drone strike
(about 1 hour later)
Senior Taliban militants, including the movement's second in command, have reportedly been killed by a US drone strike in Pakistan, the first since the country voted for a new government this month. Just days after Barack Obama announced new restrictions on the use of drones, one of the CIA's unmanned aircraft reportedly killed the deputy leader of the Pakistani Taliban in one of the most significant strikes for the controversial programme in months.
Pakistani security officials said on Wednesday that at least four people, including the Taliban's deputy commander Wali ur-Rehman, had been killed in the attack in the North Waziristan region. The Pakistan Taliban have denied he is dead. It was also the first drone strike since Pakistanis overwhelmingly voted on 11 May for political parties that are strongly opposed to the US use of drones.
The attack, which comes just days after Barack Obama announced tighter guidelines on use of the unmanned aircraft, could complicate the first days in power of Nawaz Sharif, who is due to be installed as prime minister next week after elections earlier this month. It could also complicate the first days in office of Nawaz Sharif, the incoming prime minister who has vowed to open peace talks with insurgents and is due to assume office on 5 June.
However, Obama made clear in his speech at the National Defense University on Thursday that in the "Afghan war theatre" drone strikes would have to continue in the runup to the end of the Nato combat mission in Afghanistan next year. He said drones were needed to kill senior al-Qaida leaders who cannot be captured, but also "against forces that are massing to support attacks on coalition forces" in Afghanistan. Pakistani security officials claimed Wali ur-Rehman was among the four people killed when a missile launched in the early hours of Wednesday morning from a drone struck a house in Chamsa, a village 2km from Miranshah, the political capital of North Waziristan, a Taliban stronghold.
On the campaign trail Sharif had complained about the lethal strikes, saying they breached the sovereignty of Pakistan, which has opposed the programme despite evidence of complicity at times. However, the Taliban refused to concede the death of Rehman, the most senior military commander of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Sharif has also announced his intention to invite the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) into peace talks, and has approached an extremist mullah with strong Taliban links to assist the effort. A man claiming to be Rehman's driver also vociferously denied that the top TTP leader had been killed, but admitted other militants had died in the missile strike.
But there will be few among Pakistan's security officials who will mourn the death of Wali ur-Rehman. Rehman has launched deadly attacks against Pakistani troops, in addition to helping the insurgency against Nato forces in Afghanistan. In recent years militants, particularly senior leaders, have taken great pains to avoid congregating together in houses in an effort to protect themselves from strikes that overwhelmingly occur in North Waziristan. However in 2013 the number of strikes has steeply declined.
In 2009 Pakistan offered a bounty for anyone who captured him, dead or alive. In 2010 he was declared a "specially designated global terrorist" by the US government, which offered a $5m reward for information leading to his arrest. A Pakistani journalist who covers the tribal areas said some of his sources had claimed Rehman was among three senior militants killed in a house in Chamsa, a village 2km away from Miranshah, the capital of North Waziristan. Information about drone strikes is notoriously hard to verify. Both the Pakistani military and insurgent groups prevent journalists and investigators from visiting attack sites.
In recent years militants, particularly senior leaders, have taken great pains to avoid congregating together in houses in an effort to protect themselves from strikes that overwhelmingly occur in North Waziristan, the most troubled of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous so-called tribal areas near the Afghan border. Claims by intelligence sources can also be inaccurate or deliberately designed to deceive.
Information about drone strikes is notoriously hard to verify. Both the Pakistani military and insurgent groups prevent journalists and investigators from visiting attack sites. Information provided by intelligence sources can also be inaccurate or deliberately designed to deceive. Despite media reports suggesting Obama intended to dramatically rein in the use of lethal drone strikes, the president made clear in an address at the National Defense University last week that they would have to continue in Pakistan in the runup to the end of the Nato combat mission in Afghanistan next year.
Pakistan's ministry of foreign affairs said it had "serious concerns" about Wednesday's strike. He said drones were needed to kill senior al-Qaida leaders who cannot be captured, but also "against forces that are massing to support attacks on coalition forces" in Afghanistan.
A ministry statement said: "The government of Pakistan has consistently maintained that the drone strikes are counter-productive, entail loss of innocent civilian lives, have human rights and humanitarian implications and violate the principles of national sovereignty, territorial integrity and international law." Pakistan's foreign ministry released a statement repeating a familiar stance on drone attacks that the government has long publicly opposed, despite considerable evidence of passed complicity in the programme.
The frequency of drone strikes surged in 2011 and 2012, creating acute discomfort for Pakistan, although this year the number of attacks has dropped dramatically. It said: "The government of Pakistan has consistently maintained that the drone strikes are counter-productive, entail loss of innocent civilian lives, have human rights and humanitarian implications and violate the principles of national sovereignty, territorial integrity and international law."
But there will be few among Pakistan's security officials who will mourn the death of Wali ur-Rehman who has been responsible for huge amounts of bloodshed in Pakistan, including many deadly attacks on soldiers battling insurgency in the country.
Although Hakimullah Mehsud is head of the TTP, analysts say it is Rehman who is in charge of much of its activities, particularly planning and ordering attacks.
He was the alleged mastermind of the bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad in 2008 which killed more than 50 people.
In 2009 Pakistan offered a bounty for anyone who captured him, dead or alive.
Although primarily focused on attacking the Pakistani state, Rehman has also been involved in assaults on US forces in Afghanistan, including an attack on a US base in Khost in 2009 that killed seven Americans.
That means he fulfils one of the preconditions in an unclassified summary of the new guidelines drawn up by the White House: that a target "poses a continuing, imminent threat to US persons".
The document also said drone strikes would only be used when capture "is not feasible" and "no other reasonable alternative exists to address the threat effectively".
In 2010 the US declared Rehman a "specially designated global terrorist" by the US government, which offered a $5m reward for information leading to his arrest.
On the campaign trail Sharif had complained about the lethal strikes, saying they breached the sovereignty of Pakistan, although he was not as outspoken as his opponent, Imran Khan, who vowed to shoot down US drones if he was elected.
Sharif has also announced his intention to engage the TTP in peace talks, and has approached an extremist mullah with strong Taliban links to act as an envoy.
On Wednesday the country's evening political television talk shows gave little prominence to the first drone strike since Pakistan's historic elections, focusing instead on national issues.
Some of the political heat had already been removed from the issue after the frequency of drone attacks fell dramatically this year compared to a surge in strikes in 2011 and 2012. There have also been far fewer credible reports of civilian casualties, with many analysts suggesting the programme has become more accurate.
Pakistan has been hit by 355 such attacks since 2004, according to the New America Foundation, a US-based thinktank.
Last Thursday Obama promised strikes would fall further as Nato troops leave Afghanistan and because of the success of US policy in reducing the strength of al-Qaida.
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