Strike On Pakistan Islamic School Kills 9

Intelligence Officials Say U.S. Strike Hit School Owned By Taliban-Linked Cleric

(CBS/AP)  Suspected U.S. missiles struck a Taliban-linked school in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing nine people in an apparent sign of U.S. frustration with the country's anti-terror efforts, intelligence officials said.

The strike came hours after Parliament warned against "incursions" on Pakistani soil in a resolution that also called for reviewing the national security strategy and making dialogue with militants the highest priority.

The suspected U.S. missiles hit the religious school on the outskirts of Miran Shah, the main town in the militant-infested North Waziristan region, four intelligence officials said.

Relying on informants and agents in the area, two officials said nine people were killed, including four pulled lifeless from the rubble hours after the strike, and two others were wounded.

The religious school belonged to a local pro-Taliban cleric, the intelligence officials said. The cleric has been linked to veteran Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, considered a top foe of the United States, they said.

The intelligence officials gave the information on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Militants in the northwest are blamed for rising attacks on U.S. and NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan as well as surging suicide attacks within Pakistan.

The cross-border missile attacks have angered many Pakistani lawmakers and the pro-U.S. government has protested them as violations of the country's sovereignty.

The parliamentary resolution was vague and lacking in details, apparently a result of political compromise after two weeks of closed-door debate.

The document did not directly mention two of the most divisive issues surrounding the terror fight: army offensives in the northwest and calls for unconditional talks with the extremists.

The major opposition parties recognize the need for military action against the insurgents but rarely forcefully express this because they need to maintain support among ordinary Pakistanis who are deeply suspicious of the war.

The seven-month old government - which is desperate for lawmakers to support its military offensive - hailed the 14-point document as a "historic moment for the country."

"This will definitely help to improve the situation and to rid the country of the menace of terrorism," Information Minister Sherry Rehman said.

The resolution calls for an "independent foreign policy," a sign of wariness of American influence. But it also states Pakistan will not let its soil be used for terrorist attacks elsewhere - an apparent nod to U.S. complaints about militants hiding in northwest Pakistan.

The resolution also alludes to the U.S. missile attacks, stating that Pakistan "stands united against any incursions and invasions of the homeland, and calls upon the government to deal with it effectively."

While saying dialogue "must now be the highest priority," it stipulates that talks should be pursued with those "elements" willing to follow the constitution and the "rule of law."

The United States currently conducts approximately 30 unmanned combat air patrols, 24 hours a day, largely over Iraq and Afghanistan, but a senior Air Force officer told The Associated Press that by the end of September 2011, the goal is to have 50.

Scrambling to meet commanders' insatiable demands for unmanned aircraft, the Air Force is launching two new training programs, including an experimental one that would churn out as many as 1,100 desperately needed pilots to fly the drones over Iraq and Afghanistan.

As many as 700 Air Force personnel have expressed some interest in the test program, which will create a new brand of pilot for the drones, which are flown by remote control from a base in Nevada.

The new drone operators will learn the basics of flying a small manned plane, but will not go through the longer, more rigorous training that their fighter jet brethren receive.

[eggy1620]

killing students in a school in Pakistan ---------------------- Posted by ajaxtheleast

These were not 9 year olds learning about the Trinity after Sunday morning services. This was an indoctrination center, designed to churn out jihadis.

[ranger101st2]

Petro49L, if the P-stani''s did launch a thermo-nuclear weapon the response would be OVERWHELMING. No more P-stan. That is not the concern. The concern is a Chinook crammed with troops gets lit up by a P-stani warplane, which is possible. In May, there were 30 or so camps in the tribal areas. Now, there is over 160. All done with the tacit approval of the PAK Gov. They have been backpeddaling, signing treaties with dishonarable "men" whose aim is to overthrow the P-stani Gov. They have ceded large swaths of territory, and DO NOT govern these areas. So, how can they whine and moan about "sovereignty?" Its laughable. Those madrosses are T-ban/AQ training centers, "safe havens" for T-ban/AQ fighters. Kill the tree at the root, its a free fire zone there, I would like to see a massive airstrike hitting multiple targets, since the P-stani''s let the camps run with impunity. Take the war to THIER homes, land. I bet violence drops in A-stan real quick.

[toolmangler-2009]

Pakistan would be reduced to a burned out cinder the same for anyone else that tried it. They know it reason they wont do it. 20 minutes from launch to target all fro the confort of an air conditioned office bunker right here 8000 miles away and dont forget those subs crawling around just one would take the entire country out. Its called practice time after time. I dont think anybody wants to push Bush as he has a short time left and nothing to loose.

Posted by lewiston14 at 08:34 AM : Oct 23, 2008


The big scarey thing is you may be right and Bin Laden knows it, so whats to stop him from hiding a missile in "Pakistan, Afganistan, or any other country he wants to make an example of and attacking the ''shrub'' with a nook? Bin Laden is a religious nut that wants to ''trick'' Allah into coming down here and killin "All of Islams enemys". "None but Islam shall live".

[yongamerica]

This school teaches religious zealotry, bomb making and basic gunnery. Like a rose, a terrorist training camp by any other name is still a terrorist training camp.

Looks like the U.S. is back on the high road again. Just goes to show what can happen when you get high. Another one of those "mission accomplished, good job, brownie" events that makes the ideology of America so inevitably the future of the Middle East. Hmm, killing people based upon suspicions of associations sounds like the kind of freedom loving democracy I''ve always wanted to live under.

[TommyCraig]

""in an apparent sign of U.S. frustration with the country''''s anti-terror efforts"
"Yeh, right. More like--bomb them into submission"".
Posted by anon00 at 08:37 AM : Oct 23, 2008
That is sort of the idea!

[middleman8]

What right have these people to fight back with the only things they have ?
After all we have to go half way around the world to kill them.
They could be a bit more appreciative.
Our military is doing this for God so
their conscious won''t bother them.

[sigotratando]

But if Obama continues these murders...
Posted by anon00

I was stunned when I read this comment, wondering how in the world can one already be accusing another who does not yet even hold a post to make bombing decisions. How does this lack in basic logic, which makes pronouncements on another''s character (false witness), reflect upon the person publicly exposing this folly, and then have the nerve to name-call others ''bottom dwellers''.

More to the topic--not that I am supporting the bombing of schools, but one thing I have to ethically sort out for myself yet is: at what point, what stage, how young does a person become our enemy. If this type of ''school'' is a mental training ground for an enemy, why isn''t it proper to destroy it?

[ajaxtheleast]

A HALF civil war !!??

Sipping tea in Nevada while

killing students in a school in Pakistan.?


How can these bottom of the life experience
drone "pilots" sleep at night ?

And 30 of these moral bottom dwellers
arent enough, we want 50 of them.

I have faith that he wont.
But if Obama continues these murders,
the dems and repubs alike are all sick people.

[lewiston14]

"What if the Pakistani Army launches a thermo-nuclear warhead at a key American target in Afghanistan?"

Pakistan would be reduced to a burned out cinder the same for anyone else that tried it. They know it reason they wont do it. 20 minutes from launch to target all fro the confort of an air conditioned office bunker right here 8000 miles away and dont forget those subs crawling around just one would take the entire country out. Its called practice time after time. I dont think anybody wants to push Bush as he has a short time left and nothing to loose.

[petro49l]

What if the Pakistani Army launches a thermo-nuclear warhead at a key American target in Afghanistan? Islamabad defends Osama Bin Laden and his trafficking of illicit narcotics. Al Qada deals euphoric substances all over the world. The Junkies are literally filling their pockets with drug money. The Saudis protect Karachi from Coalition attack with political influence in Washington DC. They said it will not be another Hiroshima.