Posted on 06/24/2009 2:59:50 AM PDT by Cindy
The US carried out its second Predator airstrike inside South Waziristan today. Unmanned Predator aircraft killed more than 65 Taliban fighters in a follow-on attack near the headquarters for Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.
The Predator strike aircraft fired three Hellfire missiles as Taliban fighters gathered for a funeral of Khog Wali, a leader in Baitullah's army in South Waziristan who was among six Taliban fighters killed in the first US airstrike earlier today.
Commander Sangeen, a Taliban commander from Afghanistan, was reported to be among those killed in the strike at the funeral. Predators are said to have fired on Taliban vehicles as they attempted to leave the scene of the attack, Dawn reported.
The attack took place in the town of Makeen, a stronghold of Baitullah Mehsud, according to Geo News. The US has hit Taliban facilities in the Makeen region three times since June 14. The Pakistani Air Force has also launched several attacks in the region.
These attacks coincided with an important meeting between Baitullah and a senior delegation of Taliban and al Qaeda leaders to discuss the military's operation in South Waziristan. Among those in attendance were Siraj Haqqani, Abu Yahya al Libi, Abdul Haq, and two senior deputies of Mullah Abdullah Zakir. The US appears to have targeted al Qaeda’s senior leadership as it met with Baitullah.
(Excerpt) Read more at longwarjournal.org ...
(( ping ))
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Nothing like a Hallmark greeting card.
UPDATE:
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/06/taliban_commanders_s.php
“Taliban commanders survive US airstrike at funeral”
By BILL ROGGIO
June 25, 2009 10:17 AM
SNIPPET: “The US came close to killing Baitullah Mehsud, one of his senior deputies, and an Afghan Taliban commander during Tuesday’s airstrike that targeted the leaders as they gathered for the funeral of an aide killed in a separate Predator strike earlier that day.
Baitullah, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban movement, narrowly escaped the attack, as he left the funeral just minutes before the airstrike, US intelligence officials involved in the hunt in Pakistan’s tribal areas told The Long War Journal.
“We think we almost had him,” one official said, referring to Baitullah. “It was close.”
Qari Hussain Mehsud and Mullah Sangeen Zadran also dodged the US air blitz, according to US intelligence officials and reports in the Pakistani press.
Qari Hussain is a senior Taliban commander and possible successor to Baitullah. He runs suicide training camps in South Waziristan and recruits young boys to serve as suicide bombers.
Sangeen is senior deputy to Siraj Haqqani and a field commander for the Haqqani Network in eastern Afghanistan. Sangeen has led pitched battles against US and Afghan forces in Paktika province in Afghanistan.
Baitullah, Qari Hussain, and Sangeen were in the town of Makeen to attend the funeral of Khwaz Ali Mehsud, a mid-level commander of the Taliban in South Waziristan. Khwaz Ali, who was close to Baitullah, had been killed in a Predator strike earlier that morning.”
Now that's the knid of respect they understand, we'll have to do it more often.
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