Renewed U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan kill nine suspected militants

[News_Editor]

Renewed U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan kill nine suspected militants

2011-11-01 00:45:21 GMT+7 (ICT)

MIRANSHAH, PAKISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- A series of U.S. drone strikes targeting suspected militants in Pakistan's volatile tribal region killed at least nine people on Sunday and Monday, officials said.

The U.S. airstrikes on Sunday targeted a vehicle and a suspected militant compound in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan, killing six militants. Four missiles launched against a vehicle in the Mubarak Shah area of Miranshah on Monday killed three more suspected militants.

On Friday, an estimated 2,000 people gathered and protested against the U.S. drone strikes, demanding their end during a demonstration outside the country's parliament. Angry protesters claimed that the strikes have killed more innocent lives than those of militants.

A day earlier, on Thursday, five suspected militants were killed when a U.S. drone attacked a double cabin in the Azam Warsak area of Pakistan's South Waziristan region. Among those killed was the brother of Maulvi Nazir, a leading militant of the Pakistani Taliban in South Waziristan.

Earlier this month, U.S. drone strikes were launched on October 13, 14 and 15, killing at least 17 militants in the same area. The air strikes were carried out in the Darpakhel area of Pakistan's North Waziristan and in the Dandey Darpakhel village, both located near Miranshah. Two senior Haqqani Network leaders were killed during the strikes.

As of October, more than 70 U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan have killed at least 544 people this year, according to a report by Conflict Monitoring Center. The report showed that the two deadliest months were March and June when 89 and 117 people were killed, respectively. Some of the deadliest attacks were carried out on July 11 and 12 when four air strikes killed 63 people, the report said.

The U.S. considers Pakistan's Afghan border to be the most dangerous place on Earth. The area is known to be a stronghold of the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network, which is one of the top terrorist organizations and threats to U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Controversy has surrounded the drone strikes as local residents and officials have blamed them for killing innocent civilians and motivating young men to join the Taliban. Details about the alleged militants are usually not provided, and the U.S. government does not comment on the strikes.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said in its annual report that the U.S. drone strikes were responsible for 957 extra-legal killings in 2010. Since August 2008, there have been over 250 drone attacks which have reportedly killed more than 1,500 people in North and South Waziristan alone.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-11-01

[bkkjames]

With 70 drone strikes in the area since the start of the year-i imagine the locals consider it pretty dangerous as well.

[Pakboong]

This matter is interesting for many reasons but perhaps mostly due to the changes it proposes to the rule of warfare. Is a civilian CIA agent sitting behind a computer, not in uniform obviously because he is a civilian, a murderer or a warrior? These rules become more fuzzy when governments struggle to appropriate funds to pay for wars. The US has developed a mercenary army using black funds which is harder to track and not subject to review by the unsuspecting American public.

If this guy is captured by the enemy, is he a spy or a soldier? Under the current rules of war, this person is not eligible for Prisoner of War status. I guess he would have a status similar to a terrorist launching rockets from any middle eastern location.

Generally, the deliberate killing of another human being is considered murder unless some legal justification provides immunity. The law of war does just that by extending combatant immunity to lawful combatants who kill in the course of armed conflict, provided they comply with the law of war…. The CIA’s civilian employees and civilian contractors are not lawful combatants and are not entitled to combatant immunity.…

Edited November 3, 2011 by Pakboong

[flying]

This matter is interesting for many reasons but perhaps mostly due to the changes it proposes to the rule of warfare. Is a civilian CIA agent sitting behind a computer, not in uniform obviously because he is a civilian, a murderer or a warrior? These rules become more fuzzy when governments struggle to appropriate funds to pay for wars. The US has developed a mercenary army using black funds which is harder to track and not subject to review by the unsuspecting American public.

If this guy is captured by the enemy, is he a spy or a soldier? Under the current rules of war, this person is not eligible for Prisoner of War status. I guess he would have a status similar to a terrorist launching rockets from any middle eastern location.

Generally, the deliberate killing of another human being is considered murder unless some legal justification provides immunity. The law of war does just that by extending combatant immunity to lawful combatants who kill in the course of armed conflict, provided they comply with the law of war…. The CIA’s civilian employees and civilian contractors are not lawful combatants and are not entitled to combatant immunity.…

Remember Raymond Davis?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/world/asia/22pakistan.html?pagewanted=all

Same.....These unfunded wars or black funds as you called them are used & probably the same funds were used as blood money to buy Davis freedom.