4th Missile Strike in Pakistan in 24 Hours Kills 5

By Ishtiaq Mahsud

September 9, 2010

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — A suspected American missile strike killed five alleged militants in northwestern Pakistan early Thursday, an intelligence official said, the fourth such attack on suspected insurgent targets there in 24 hours.

The barrage was one of the most intense since the attacks were stepped up more than two years ago in a bid to keep pressure on al-Qaida and its allies. Most are believed to be fired from unmanned, remote-controlled planes that can hover for hours above the area. …

U.S. officials do not publicly acknowledge the missile strikes but have said privately that they have killed several senior Taliban and al-Qaida militants and scores of foot soldiers in a region largely out of the control of the Pakistani state. Critics say innocents are also killed, fueling support for the insurgency.

The latest attack took place before dawn on a house close to a disused match factory a little more than a mile west of Miran Shah town, a hub for local and international militants in the North Waziristan region, an intelligence official said. …

The three attacks Wednesday also took place in North Waziristan, a lawless region home to al-Qaida leaders plotting attacks in the West, insurgents battling foreign troops just across the border in Afghanistan and extremists behind bombings in Pakistan. There have been at least four other attacks over the last week. …

Pakistan’s army has launched several offensives in the northwest over the last two years, but has resisted moving into North Waziristan despite U.S. pressure. A major militant faction there, the Haqqani network, is blamed for attacks against U.S. troops in Afghanistan but has refrained from striking inside Pakistan. Analysts believe the army views the network, with which it has historical links, as an important tool to secure its interests in Afghanistan once foreign troops withdraw. …

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Related reports on this site

Obama Fires Missiles into Yemen (Dec. 19, 2009)

Obama Rolls Dice on AfPak War (Dec. 2, 2009)

War on Terror Pakistan Blowback (Oct. 30, 2009)

Pakistanis Protest U.S. Airstrikes (Jan. 27, 2009)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — September 9, 2009

In 2006, Michele Bachmann said God told her to run for Congress. Now, she’s awaiting Word on whether God wants her to run for president. (Photo credit: The Minnesota Independent)

Bachmann Eyes ‘Madam President’

One year ago today, I reported that Michele Bachmann testified that God told her to run for Congress and then, after being elected, said she would run for president if called by God. But she topped that assertion by claiming that Democrats want to take her down because they fear she could become the first woman president of the United States.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — September 9, 2008

Primary Election Day: Day 57

Campaign SUV at Bunker Hills Regional Park, Andover.

Two years ago today, on the 57th day of my 2008 campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, I called on Sixth District citizens to exercise their right to vote and featured some photos chronicling my final campaign swing through the Sixth District the previous day, down the I-94 / Highway 10 corridor from St. Cloud to Blaine.