U.S. Drone Allegedly Kills 27 In Pakistan

Intelligence Officials Say Suspected U.S. Missile Strikes Militant Hideout In S. Waziristan

(AP)  A suspected U.S. missile strike by a drone aircraft flattened a militant hide-out in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing 27 local and foreign insurgents, intelligence officials said.

Several more purported militants were wounded in the attack in South Waziristan, a militant stronghold near the Afghan border where al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri are believed to be hiding.

The new U.S. administration has brushed off Pakistani criticism that the missile strikes fuel religious extremism and boost anti-American sentiment in the Islamic world's only nuclear-armed nation.

Pilotless U.S. aircraft are believed to have launched more than 30 attacks since July, and American officials say al Qaeda's leadership has been decimated. Pakistani officials say the vast majority of the victims are civilians.

Taliban fighters surrounded the compound targeted Saturday in the village of Shrawangai Nazarkhel and carried away the dead and wounded in several vehicles.

Intelligence officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said the victims included about 15 ethnic Uzbek militants and several Afghans. Their seniority was unclear.

Two of the officials said dozens of followers of Pakistan's top Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, were staying in the housing compound when it was hit.

Pakistan's former government and the CIA have named Mehsud as the prime suspect behind the December 2007 killing of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto near Islamabad. Pakistani officials accuse him of harboring foreign fighters, including Central Asians linked to al Qaeda, and of training suicide bombers.

The accounts of Saturday's incident could not be verified independently. The tribally governed region is unsafe for reporters. The U.S. Embassy had no comment, while Pakistani government and army spokesman were unavailable.

Pakistani leaders told visiting American envoy Richard Holbrooke earlier this week that the missile strikes kill too many civilians and undermine the government's own counterinsurgency strategy.

Still, many analysts suspect that Pakistan has tacitly consented to the attacks in order not to endanger billions of dollars in American and Western support for its powerful military and its ailing economy.

Pakistan's pro-Western government, led by Bhutto widower Asif Ali Zardari, has signed peace deals with tribal leaders in the northwest while launching a series of military operations of its own against hard-liners.

However, government forces are bogged down in several regions and Taliban militants have sustained a campaign that has included a string of kidnappings and other attacks on foreigners.

On Friday, a shadowy organization holding an American employee of the United Nations warned it would kill him within 72 hours and issued a grainy video of the blindfolded captive saying he was "sick and in trouble."

Gunmen seized John Solecki on Feb. 2 after shooting his driver to death as they drove to work in Quetta, a city near the Afghan border.

The kidnappers identified themselves as the Baluchistan Liberation United Front, suggesting a link to local separatists rather than the Taliban or al Qaeda. They are demanding the release of hundreds of people allegedly held in Pakistan.

But officials say the group is unknown and has yet to contact the United Nations. Fears for Solecki's safety are intense after Taliban militants apparently beheaded an abducted Polish geologist. If confirmed, the Pole's slaying would be the first killing of a Western hostage in Pakistan since American journalist Daniel Pearl was killed in 2002.

Zardari said in a television interview that the Taliban had expanded their presence to a "huge amount" of Pakistan and were eyeing a takeover of the state.

He sought to counter the view of many Pakistanis that the country is fighting Islamist militants, who have enjoyed state support in the past, only at Washington's behest.

"We're fighting for the survival of Pakistan. We're not fighting for the survival of anybody else," Zardari said, according to a transcript of his remarks that CBS said it would air Sunday.

[mysteriousjz]

Jimmy, you are right. But, extremists do not learn from rational ways-"enough is enough already"-over 1 million killed just in last 7 years and yet we are still after invisible men with AK47.-and you know what "extremists" I am referring to here

[jimmyc1955]

"The new U.S. administration has brushed off Pakistani criticism that the missile strikes fuel religious extremism and boost anti-American sentiment in the Islamic world''s only nuclear-armed nation."

Isn''t that the approach that everybody hate Bush and Rice for?

[kretosdav]

Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?
For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.Habakkuk Chapter 1-2

[trapbreaker]

And what if one these packistain''''s brings a suitcase nuke into chicago or LA NY washington just something to think about - Posted by popstom122

Suitcase nuke? You ever seen a nuke that would fit in a suitcase? Besides, it would start a nuke war that would take out all the bad guy cities. The U.S. has 12,000 nukes of the megaton variety and the means to deliver them.

Obama said that if Israel was attacked by nuclear weapons the U.S. would respond with lightning force. That was Israel, just imagine what would happen if the U.S. was nuked.

.

[mysteriousjz]

*** Richard says "Go Obama, kill them all!!!! ......I hope the next missile hits your house...." ***
---------------
People are not the problem but the extremists, such as you, are the problem to peace in this world. You are a brutal, mindless barbarian who does not have any ability to understand what you read whatsoever. You are clearly a person whose ability to %u201Creason%u201D extends to using force and violence and a first resort and bullets, rather than rational communication, as your only logic. You are not the solution; you are the problem.

[karenlewis44]

27 is a good number, 27 million more to go! www.theseriouspolice.com

[richardj390]

pythoncharly, are you demented?

You did notice we changed Presidents almost a month ago? January 20, in case you were dozing that week.

You do know that Obama has signed off on ALL of these missile attacks?

It used to be Bush''s war, but NOW is Obama''s war.

And, these missile attacks are one of the few things I agree with Obama on.

Go Obama, kill them all!!!!

[rallyafag]

Posted by pythoncharly at 07:44 AM : Feb 15, 2009
+ report abuse

******

do you feel like obama betrayed you?

[trapbreaker]

This is all cold-blooded murders one after the other committed by "Angels of Peace." - Posted by mysteriousjz

"A suspected U.S. missile strike by a drone aircraft flattened a militant hide-out in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing 27 local and foreign insurgents, intelligence officials said."

Insurgents the article said, Insurgents. Bad people, who cut off heads and attack Pakistan and NATO troops.

[mysteriousjz]

As I had stated earlier, I am from the region and you wont feel the pain if you dont have anyone there or if you dont know how people live there. This is all cold-blooded murders one after the other committed by "Angels of Peace." Defenseless elderly men, women and children as "collateral" damage is cowardice. They are in pain and have no proper medical/emergency care. Even worse, they have no voice.....I wholeheartedly must say candy in one hand and bombs in another are not helping any side-Please help stop the carnage!!!!!!!!