Saturday, June 2, 2012

AfPak: Bad weekend for the Taliban

14 Taliban killed during attack on a NATO base in Afghanistan:
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – Taliban insurgents detonated a truck bomb, then tried to storm a NATO base Friday in eastern Afghanistan, but coalition forces repelled the attack, killing 14 militants, officials said.

No foreign or Afghan troops were killed, according to NATO, but the attack showed the fundamentalist Islamic movement remains a resilient force even as Afghan President Hamid Karzai insists they do not have the means to retake the nation after foreign forces leave.

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US drones kill Taliban commander in South Waziristan:
(LWJ) The US killed a commander loyal to 'good' Taliban leader Mullah Nazir in a drone strike in South Waziristan. Today's strike is the first in South Waziristan since mid-March.

The remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers fired missiles at a vehicle and a motorcycle in a village near Wana. Dawn reported that the strike took place in the village of Doog and killed two Taliban fighters, while Geo News said the strike occurred in Khawashi Khel and killed four fighters.

According to Dawn, Rahmanullah, "a key commander of the Mullah Nazir group and a brother of commander Malang of the same group," was killed in the strike. Nazir administers the Wana area and supports and shelters al Qaeda leaders and operatives.

Today's strike is the first in South Waziristan since mid-March. The last eight strikes have taken place in Taliban-controlled North Waziristan.

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Latest US drone strike kills 10 foreign 'militants' in South Waziristan:
(LWJ) US drones targeted a group of local Taliban fighters and "foreigners" who were gathering to mourn the death of a commander who was killed in another strike in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of South Waziristan just one day ago. The strike is the seventh in the past two weeks.

The remotely piloted and CIA-operated Predators or the more deadly Reapers fired four missiles at a group of Taliban fighters loyal to Mullah Nazir who gathered in the village of Mana Raghzai in South Waziristan, according to The Associated Press. Ten "militants" are reported to have been killed in the strike.

The Taliban fighters and several "foreigners," a term used by Pakistani officials to describe members of al Qaeda and other allied terror groups, were gathering to pay tribute to a Taliban commander known as Rahmanullah, who was killed in yesterday's drone strike in South Waziristan. Rahmanullah was described yesterday as "a key commander of the Mullah Nazir group and a brother of commander Malang of the same group." [See LWJ report, US drones kill 'good' Taliban commander in South Wazirstan.]