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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US, Coalition officials meet with SDF, tribal leaders to calm Deir ez-Zor tensions
2023-09-04
[Rudaw] Officials from the US and the US-led coalition met with representatives from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Arab tribal leaders from Deir ez-Zor province in an effort to restore calm to the province after a week of festivities between Kurdish forces and pro-regime militias, the US embassy in Syria said on Sunday.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Ethan Goldrich and Major General Joel B. Vowell, commander of the US-led coalition, met with the SDF and tribal leaders from Deir ez-Zor where they "agreed on the importance of addressing the grievances of residents" and "the dangers of outsiders interfering" in the province, the US Embassy in Syria said on X, formerly known as Twitter

They also stressed "the need to avoid civilian deaths and casualties, and the need for de-escalation of violence as soon as possible," the statement added.

Clashes have been taking place for a week in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province between Kurdish forces and pro-regime militias after a curfew was imposed in the province with fighting having left at least 50 dead.

Tensions escalated last week after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrested Ahmed Khbeil, better known as Abu Khawla, commander of the SDF-linked Deir ez-Zor Military Council, and four of his colleagues on a list of charges including drug trafficking and coordinating with "external entities." Both sides have suffered casualties over the week.

The Arab-majority province was where Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
 (ISIS) Lions of Islam made their last stand and were territorially defeated. Control of the province, which borders Iraq, is now split between the SDF and the Syrian regime, with its Iranian backer. It is also home to many of the country’s key oilfields, such as Omar and Conoco, which the US-led global coalition against ISIS helps the SDF protect.

Clashes in the province have so far killed at least 54 people, including six children, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor.

The US-led coalition on Saturday urged an end to the violence, saying that destabilization of the region will only bring violence while reiterating its commitment to the SDF.

"It is imperative that all local leaders resist the influence of malign actors who promise many rewards but will deliver only suffering to the peoples of the area," the Coalition said in a statement.

"This poses dire consequences and only allows for a situation that nobody welcomes — the resurgence of our common enemy - ISIS," it added, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.

On Friday, the SDF announced a 48-hour curfew in parts of the province under its control, accusing pro-Damascus fighters of trying to "cause strife in the region and attempting to lure civilians into their dirty plans."

Before declaring the curfew, the SDF said that pro-Damascus groups attacked several sites in Deir ez-Zor and simultaneously Ottoman Turkish proxies attacked a village near Manbij in the north of the country.

On Sunday, SOHR reported that SDF fighters reinforced their control over two towns in Deir ez-Zor where there had been festivities with pro-Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
militias.

There is a history of tense relations between the Kurdish-led SDF and some Arab tribes in the province. Some anti-SDF groups have claimed that the Kurdish-led force is targeting Arabs, but the SDF has denied this.

The Deir ez-Zor Military Council is responsible for the security in the SDF-held areas of the province and has played a key role in military operations against ISIS in Syria. Abu Khawla has reportedly been replaced by his deputy, Abu Laith Khisham.
Related:
Deir ez-Zor Military Council: 2022-02-17 SDF kills ISIS leader and arrests another in Deir ez-Zor
Deir ez-Zor Military Council: 2022-02-16 Syria One ISIS militant killed and another injured by SDF in Deir ez-Zor
Deir ez-Zor Military Council: 2021-04-01 Popular discontent grows in Raqqa over the release of former ISIS member by SDF
Link


Iraq
INIS captures high-profile ISIS terrorist, Abu Talha, outside of Iraq
2023-05-06
[Shafaq News] In a successful intelligence operation, the Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) reported on Friday that they have captured Mustafa Khaled Muhammad, also known as Abu Talha,
...one of many who chose that nom de guerre...
a high-profile terrorist, outside of Iraq.
Pulling a Mossad, are they?
Abu Talha is a member of ISIS's Diwan al-Jund (Soldiers Department) and the Abu Laith Brigade Ansari in Nineveh state.
Idle hands being the Devil’s workshop, he has kept himself busy.
The operation to track Abu Talha was coordinated with an intelligence agency in another country.
Ooooooohhh — how mysterious!
The Agency did not mention the other country but described it as a "brotherly country to Iraq."
That precludes appears to preclude both Mossad and the CIA.
After his capture, Abu Talha was brought back to Iraq and handed over to the judicial authorities for further investigation and prosecution.
Maybe Syria, Iran, or Syrian Kurdistan? Turkey would have arrested him themselves, then handed him over with great fanfare.
Related:
Abu Talha: 2023-02-15 Iran-based trainer of 9/11 hijackers Sayf al-‘Adl believed to be new al-Qaeda chief
Abu Talha: 2021-06-05 Libyan Army Arrest Al-Qaeda Militants in Southern Libya
Abu Talha: 2021-03-23 Terrorism conviction of German rapper’s wife upheld by court
Related:
Diwan al-Jund: 2022-05-29 Iraqi forces arrested four terrorists; ISIS set fire in agricultural lands south of Kirkuk
Diwan al-Jund: 2022-05-25 Iraq's Intelligence Agency arrested terrorists in Baghdad, Diyala, and Kirkuk
Diwan al-Jund: 2022-05-23 National Security Agency captures 21 ISIS members in separate security operations in four governorates
Link


Iraq
Two Islamic State leaders killed in artillery shelling on Iraqi-Syrian border
2018-11-01
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) ‐ Two Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
 leaders were killed Wednesday in an artillery shelling by the Popular Mobilization Forces on the Syrian city of al-Baghuz on the border with Iraq.

"Artillery shells were fired against three hotbeds of Islamic State near the Syrian city of al-Baghuz, leaving two Islamic State leaders dead," Alghad Press website quoted deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces as saying in a statement.

"The pair, codenamed as Abu Sayyaf
...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder...
 and Abu Laith, were standing behind the recent attacks against the Syrian Democratic Forces stationed on the Iraqi-Syrian border," added the statement.

On Sunday, Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi stressed the need for tightening security along the border with neighboring Syria to eradicate terrorist groups scattered there.
Link


Iraq
ISIS’ Mosul governor reportedly killed in airstrikes
2015-05-28
And another one bites the dust...
[Rudaw] The Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
 governor of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, Ibrahim Younis Hamdani, was killed in an American Arclight airstrike Wednesday according to the Iraqi Defense Ministry.

"Today, the ISIS governor was killed by US-led Arclight airstrikes in the Mosul neighborhood of Badoush in western Mosul," the ministry said in a statement. "Ibrahim Younis Hamdani was on the way to Badoush areas when the warplanes bombed his convoy."

Since the city of Mosul fell to ISIS, many of the group's governors have been killed by coalition warplanes.
I guess in the ISIS hierarchy, governors are Number Threes.
In early March, coalition fighter jets targeted the vehicle of Shakir al-Hamdani, the second ISIS governor of Mosul, killing him and a number of his bodyguards, Ismat Rajab, a Kurdistan Democratic Party official, told Rudaw.

Warplanes also killed Radhwan Hamoudi, aka Abu Laith, the first ISIS governor of Mosul, on November 19.
Link


International-UN-NGOs
Hamas' Guidelines For Terrorists Presented To The Head Of The International Red Cross
2014-08-10
[Ynet] Justice Minister Tzipi Livni
...who has most impressively gone over to the dark side since agreeing to countenance Operation Defensive Edge...
met with the President of the International Committee of the Red Thingy and presented him with the guidelines, found in the pocket of a terrorist in Saja'iyya.

The page includes clear-cut instructions on how on the proper conduct during battle in order to cause maximum damage to Israel's public image, while using innocent civilians as human shields.

Among the recommendations included in the manual, which admits that "the IDF limits the use of ammunition to avoid harming the civilian population," Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, officials wrote: "The IDF limits the use of fire against civilian population centers — we recommend to attack from there; shooting from within homes of civilians is in Hamas' interest because it intensifies the hatred against the Israeli army."

Meanwhile,
...back at the shouting match, a new, even louder, voice was to be heard...
 the complex tunnel system operated by Hamas during the fighting has also been exposed: London's Times newspaper interviewed a commander of Hamas' military wing named Abu Laith, who told how Hamas activists spent entire days underground.

He said that Hamas runs a command and control operation that includes 30,000 combatants, and that the majority of its cells work separately. Abu Laith further added that during the fighting, one such cell was trapped underground in Saja'iyya for ten days without food or drink after their tunnel collapsed on both sides.
Link


India-Pakistan
Security forces kill 28 Taliban in Swat, Mohmand Agency
2009-07-16
ISLAMBAD: Security forces killed at least 28 Taliban in clashes in various areas of Swat and Mohmand Agency on Wednesday, said the ISPR.

Those killed include a most-wanted Taliban commander from Peochar – Abu Laith, who was targeted during a search operation in Peochar. “Fifteen Taliban were killed in clash with a lashkar in Mohmand Agency’s Amber area,” said the ISPR. Eight Taliban were killed during a search operation in Akhund Kalle near Kabal. One soldier was killed and three injured.

Troops conducted a search operation in Reema area and killed three Taliban there, while one Taliban was killed during in Chuprial. At least 16 Taliban were also arrested in a search-and-clearance operation in Swat and after a gunbattle in Darra Adam Khel. The forces arrested 11 Taliban in Darra Adam Khel, including local commander Rafiuddin. According to APP, troops unearthed a tunnel used by Taliban as a “torture cell” and took control of Shamozai.
Link


India-Pakistan
Drones are killing off Qaeeda 'senior management'
2009-01-03
The top hierarchy of al-Qaeda has taken such a hit from US missile strikes that Osama bin Laden and his deputy have had to replace people in the terrorist organisation with men they have never met, according to Western intelligence sources.

A dozen of al-Qaeda's "senior management" have been killed by Predator drone attacks, which have been so effective in locating their targets that the militant group has been forced to move from traditional outdoor training camps to classroom-style facilities that are hidden from view.

After the success of the new weapons, which are unmanned and operate by remote control from 15,000 feet, the United States is to step up its drone attacks. On January 1 Hellfire missiles, operated from an air force base in Nevada, hit targets in the South Waziristan region of Pakistan, close to Afghanistan, and yesterday two missiles slammed into the stronghold where Baitullah Mehsud, the Pakistani Taleban leader, is believed to live.

The killings have had a huge impact on the structure, organisation and effectiveness of al-Qaeda, limiting the capacity for commanders to liaise with each other, further separating the top command from the lower ranks and introducing a high degree of uncertainty and a constant awareness of the likelihood of death lurking in the skies.

Bin Laden, al-Qaeda's figurehead leader and Ayman al-Zawahiri, his Egyptian deputy, have had to rely on the loyalty of their associates to stay alive and remain hidden from the American surveillance networks.

Predators, armed with Hellfire missiles and precision-guided penetration bombs, have already succeeded in targeting two individuals believed to have ranked number three in the al-Qaeda chain of command: Hamza Rabia and Abu Laith al-Libi. They have also killed Mohammed Atef, reputedly the chief of military operations, and several of the group's most experienced explosives and biological weapons specialists.

One of the consequences of the Predator attacks has been that al-Qaeda has had to give up its traditional terrorist training camps. Sending recruits out into the open to receive military-style jihadist instruction in combat and bomb-making has become too risky. "As soon as they are spotted, the Americans attack with Predators," a counter-terrorist source said. Now terrorist training in the tribal regions in Pakistan is carried out "in the classroom", less visible from the air and making it more difficult for the Americans to monitor the scale of the recruiting.

Communications between the top echelon and operatives is now restricted to human couriers. Mobile and satellite phones are never used by the core leaders because they know that American signals intelligence will be able to pinpoint individuals as soon as the devices are switched on.

Since the Americans acquired missile-armed Predators and the newer model, called Reaper, the CIA and Pentagon have focused on killing terrorist targets rather than monitoring and tracking the activities of suspected al-Qaeda figures. The killing option has led to an increasingly successful record.

Despite a number of attacks that led to civilian deaths, in more recent Predator missions -- particularly over the past four months -- the intelligence has been more accurate. In one mission in November a Predator strike on a compound in the village of Ali Khel in North Waziristan killed two of the most senior al-Qaeda operatives, Abu Zubair al-Masri, an Egyptian explosives expert, and Rashid Rauf, the British Pakistani who is alleged to have been linked to the Heathrow bomb plot of August 2006. There were claims that Rauf was not in the compound at the time, but counter-terror officials firmly believe that he was there and that he died.

The killing of al-Libi, reputed to be a number three in the al-Qaeda hierarchy, in January last year was one of the biggest blows for bin Laden and al-Zawahiri. He was head of the Libyan fighting group of al-Qaeda and was regarded as an important director. He was also a charismatic, respected religious figure and operational planner who could smooth the way for al-Qaeda in the tribal areas whenever there were confrontations between the terrorist leaders and their Pakistani hosts over the constant threat posed by the American Predators.

Another serious loss to al-Qaeda was that of Abu Abeda al-Masri, the head of external relations who died of natural causes after becoming ill with hepatitis. He was a significant loss in terms of the threat to the UK because his role was to train Britons.

Another key Predator victim was Abu Suleiman al-Jusayi (or al-Jazairi), an Algerian who was an al-Qaeda trainer and explosives specialist. He had been involved in a series of European terrorist networks. He was killed in the Bajaur tribal district of Pakistan in June.

One of the most sought-after American targets was Abu Kabbah al-Masri, al-Qaeda's most experienced biological weapons scientist. He was engaged in the chemical and biological trials that were uncovered in Afghanistan in 2001. He was known to be continuing his experiments in the tribal regions of Pakistan. He was tracked by the Americans and killed by a Hellfire missile in the second half of last year. Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, another poisons expert, is also believed to have been killed by the Americans in a Predator attack.

The only al-Qaeda commander to have been killed by other means in the past 12 months was Abu Ghadiyah, who was in charge of the production line of suicide bombers from Syria into Iraq. He died during a controversial US commando helicopter raid across the border from Iraq in October.
Link


India-Pakistan
Taliban issue video of beheaded 'spies'
2008-12-17
Pakistani Taliban have issued a video of five slain people, accused of spying on key Al Qaeda leader Abu Laith Al-Libi, BBC Urdu reported on its website on Tuesday.

Al-Libi, a senior Al Qaeda leader, was killed in a United States missile strike in North Waziristan Agency on January 29. The slain people said in their 'confession statements' they had 'provided secret information' and helped in attacks at the behest of Pakistani officials, BBC reported. However, Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said the government of Pakistan was not providing any intelligence assistance to the US to identify the targets.

Help: The five people shown in the video introduce themselves as Feroz Khan, Pir Mal, Mohibullah, Jan Awal and an Afghan national Younus Gul, the report said. Talking about the US missile strike, Mal said all colleagues threw a 'chip' or 'sim' inside a house where Al-Libi was staying for a night, which was identified and targeted by US drones. He said he had received Rs 1.5 million for the job and his colleagues received Rs 1 million each.

The local authorities say they had found the beheaded bodies in different parts of North Waziristan Agency at different times, the report said. The army spokesman said he had not seen the video.
Link


India-Pakistan
US Attacks Inside Pakistan and Incidents along the Border in 2008: Timeline
2008-10-17
Bill Roggio has links for each incident

• US targets safe house in North Waziristan
Oct. 11, 2008

• US strike kills 9 al Qaeda and Taliban in North Waziristan
Oct. 9, 2008

• US conducts two strikes in North Waziristan
Oct. 3, 2008

• Taliban: Baitullah Mehsud alive; US strike in North Waziristan
Oct. 1, 2008

• Pakistan military fires on ISAF forces
Sept. 25, 2008

• Pakistani military fires on US helicopters at border
Sept. 22, 2008

• US strikes Taliban camp in South Waziristan
Sept. 17, 2008

• Report: US helicopters fired on while crossing Pakistani border
Sept. 15, 2008

• US hits compound in North Waziristan,
Sept. 12, 2008

• US targets Haqqani Network in North Waziristan,
Sept. 8, 2008

• US airstrike killed five al Qaeda operatives in North Waziristan,
Sept. 5, 2008

• Report: US airstrike kills four in North Waziristan,
Sept. 4, 2008

• Pakistanis claim US helicopter-borne forces assaulted village in South Waziristan,
Sept. 3, 2008

• US hits al Qaeda safe house in North Waziristan,
Aug. 31, 2008

• Five killed in al Qaeda safe house strike in South Waziristan,
Aug. 31, 2008

• Al Qaeda safe house targeted in South Waziristan strike,
Aug. 20, 2008

• Cross-border strike targets one of the Taliban's 157 training camps in Pakistan's northwest,
Aug. 13, 2008

• Six killed in strike in South Waziristan,
July 28, 2008

• Report: Strike targets Baitullah Mehsud's hideout in Pakistan,
June 14, 2008

• Senior Algerian al Qaeda operative killed in May 14 strike inside Pakistan,
May 24, 2008

• Missile strike kills 20 in South Waziristan,
March 16, 2008

• Unprecedented Coalition strike nails the Haqqani Network in North Waziristan,
March 13, 2008

• Missile strike on al Qaeda meeting in South Waziristan kills 13,
Feb. 28, 2008

• Senior al Qaeda leader Abu Laith al Libi killed in North Waziristan,
Jan. 31, 2008
Link


India-Pakistan
US receiving reliable intelligence concerning Qaeda in Tribal Areas
2008-09-28
The United States is getting 'good actionable intelligence' on Al Qaeda in Pakistan's Tribal Areas but not the Taliban, a senior official co-ordinating with Washington in the war on terror told Daily Times on Saturday.

"The US has good intelligence on Al Qaeda members in our Tribal Areas, and Washington also appears more interested in Qaeda than Taliban," the senior official said, asking not to be named.

The killing of Abu Khabab al-Masri, head of Al Qaeda's weapons of mass destruction programme, in the first week of August in South Waziristan speaks volume for the good intelligence the US is getting.

Since early this year, the US has carried out around a dozen strikes through unmanned spy planes in Bajaur and the Waziristan agencies. Washington suspects Al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri might be hiding in Bajaur.

The official did not say whether Pakistani intelligence agencies were behind the reliable information or if the US itself was using "own human intelligence on ground" or electronic equipment to track down the terror network.

In the last eight months, the US has eliminated some key Al Qaeda operatives, including Abu Sulayman Jazairi, an Algerian operative who directed Al Qaeda's external operations, and Abu Laith al-Libbi, during drone-led strikes in the Tribal Areas. "I think the tribal people are also willing to pass on actionable intelligence on foreign elements of Al Qaeda," said a tribal elder in Azam Warsak, South Waziristan. "The same level of success is, however, not coming as far as the Taliban are concerned," the official said.

Bigger threat: He added that the US did not view the Taliban as a bigger threat than Al Qaeda. "Washington is only looking for Al Qaeda operatives and it does not like to fire expensive Hellfire missiles on other than Arab elements of Qaeda." Except for one case when the US drone killed Taliban leader Nek Muhammad in South Waziristan in June 2004, there has been no other instance to suggest how important the killing of Taliban leaders is to Washington.

"If Washington takes out the Al Qaeda threat completely and the terror group no longer poses any security danger to the mainland of America, the US may open channels with Taliban leaders in Afghanistan to find peaceful solution to the Afghan problem," the official went on to add.

Earlier, NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani had said, "political stability will only come to Afghanistan when all political power groups, irrespective of the length of their beard, are given their just and due share in the political dispensation in Afghanistan.
Link


-Obits-
9/11 passes with no new English propaganda, Adam Gadahn presumed dead
2008-09-12
Adam Gadahn, a Winchester native who became a top al-Qaida operative and the first American to be indicted for treason since 1952, may have been killed in an airstrike, according to intelligence experts cited by a British newspaper.

Gadahn is thought to have been killed in an attack launched from a remotely piloted aircraft in January, according to London's Daily Telegraph newspaper, which cited unnamed Western intelligence sources in Pakistan.
It's September, if no rumbles from him since then, then he's dead.
Internet rumors have circulated about Gadahn's death since February, pointing to a well-trusted Pakistani news report that Gadahn was killed in the same attack that killed high-profile al-Qaida commander Abu Laith al-Libi in Waziristanin January.
That's so awesome that he was in the little group. What a lovely little surprise to get in your strike assessment!
The Telegraph article, published Sunday, also cites that late-January attack as the probable demise of Gadahn, who grew up in a reclusive family on a goat farm in the hills of Winchester. At age 17, he converted to Islam and subsequently joined al-Qaida, becoming its top propagandist.

Another telltale sign that Gadahn could be dead is that he has not produced a new video message this week to mark the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, departing from an annual tradition he launched in 2003.
Yeah, that's pretty conclusive.
"If there is no message, it will be taken as near-certain confirmation that he is dead ---- killed either in a strike by Hellfire missiles, or perhaps by jihadi colleagues who have grown jealous of his success," the Telegraph reported.
Islamo-terr office politics.
In May, several months after initial reports circulated that Gadahn might be dead, the FBI and State Department launched a publicity campaign to spread the word in Afghanistan about a $1 million reward for information on Gadahn's whereabouts. "We produced posters and matchbooks, radio ads, requesting information from anyone who might have it," Eimiller said. "There's been some information that has come in, but clearly he's not been located at this point. We are continuing to take calls and check out every lead."
They're looking for him. Can't find him. Matchbooks? I'd like to get my hands on a few of those.
Link


Afghanistan
Kandahar jailbreak - Predators followed the rats to their holes
2008-08-27
When the Taliban broke more than 750 prisoners out of jail this summer, in one of the most spectacular attacks in living memory, Nato's response was instant but invisible. Senior commanders scrambled every drone they could spare as prisoners poured out of Kandahar jail.

The closest Nato garrison had hunkered down inside their base, afraid of more attacks, as prisoners poured into the night.

But commanders at nearby Kandahar Airfield watched live pictures of the anarchy, from the comfort of their operations room, as wave after wave of escapees began marching east, to sanctuaries in Pakistan. A fleet of Predator drones criss-crossed the skies some 35,000 feet above Afghanistan's second city, flying throughout the night and long into the next morning, as rag-tag columns of men made good their escape.

Some of the prisoners went straight to Arghandab, just outside the city, where they fought with Nato troops a few days later. But most of the 400 Taliban, who were among the 750 inmates freed, fled back to Pakistan - beyond the reach of Nato's force. Or so they thought.

International troops are using drones to patrol Pakistani airspace in a bid to monitor insurgents on both sides of the border. "We wanted to see where the prisoners went," said one official in Kabul, hinting that the fugitives had betrayed their hideouts when they fled.

It is an open secret that armed Predator drones, operated by the CIA, are flying routine fire missions inside Pakistan against Al Qa'ida leaders. The most notable example of a drone attack came last January, when a missile from a Predator hit a terrorist safe house in Waziristan, killing Abu Laith al-Libi, the man accused of plotting an attack against Bagram airbase, when US vice president Dick Cheney was visiting. That attack,in the Pakistani tribal region of Bajaur, targeted and missed al-Qaida's number two leader, Ayman al-Zawahri.

At the end of last month, a drone operating in northwestern Pakistan pinpointed al Qa'ida's chemical engineer, Abu Khabab al-Masri, who was a key figure in the group's production of chemical weapons and conventional explosives. Al Qa'ida has confirmed the death of the operative who was killed by a missile, along with five other people. He had earlier been reported as having been killed in the attack last January and had a $5m reward on his head.

Nato sources continually blame Pakistan for a surge in Afghan violence this year, and growing frustration at Pakistan's failure to tackle the Taliban on their side of the border has prompted talk of Nato operations against the insurgents on both sides of the Durrand line.

"The CIA already conducts operations in partnership with the Pakistanis," said a senior Nato official in Kabul. "Nato would like to have the same relationship with Pakistan."

The drones watch and log the movements of senior Taliban commanders in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas. Unlike the presence of special forces, they carry far less political risk. Most of them are flown from an airbase in America, and if they crash - which has happened - they don't create "friendly" body bags.

The Taliban claim they can hear the tell tale buzz of unmanned aerial vehicles, of UAVs, before an attack. But most of the time they circle too high to be heard or seen, beaming back images of whatever's going on below. They only swoop lower when they want to fire, or take a closer look.

The army call drones their "unblinking eye," and they rely on them for almost all their major operations. One senior airborne officer told The Independent there was no doubt the aircraft had saved British lives. "They are so good," he said, "they are the first thing we ask for when we plan an operation. "The big thing is that they help us at the lowest tactical level. They find information, that which allows us to make decisions."

Moments before soldiers storm compounds or search houses, drones relay messages to their commanders warning them how many fighters to expect, and what weapons they have.

On a search operation in Helmand, against a suspected bomb factory, drones directed troops to return to a compound they had already searched, after it spotted bodies hiding in a nearby treeline.

Smaller versions of the predator are flown from Kandahar and Camp Bastion. The British hired a model plane enthusiast to help them take off and land, while even smaller drones - the size of remote controlled toy planes - are flown by artillery troops from the forward operating bases scattered across the provinces.

But the information is not always fool proof. America is once again investigating claims its warplanes killed 89 civilians in an airstrike in Herat last week. The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has fired two senior Afghan officers for their role in the attack. There's little doubt the US Special Forces who called in the airstrike were relying, in part, on information from a drone that was watching the Taliban commander they were hoping to arrest.

It's just possible that the "thorough battle damage assessment" that American officials said proved that they had only killed insurgents was also done by a drone. President Hamid Karzai disagrees, and the Americans have, reluctantly, launched an investigation.

Perhaps more telling, is that three months after the great jail break, not one of the fugitive prisoners has been arrested.
Link



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