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I had the idea thismorning to create a thread where we could archive all of the reports of US drone strikes for the entire year in one place. So here it is. With the Obama administrations history of drone use over the last four years I think it would be a good idea to keep track of what we can. I know there are probably many strikes that go unreported but we will just keep track of what we can. I will do my best to update it at least once a week with any stories that I can find. Feel free to add your own to the mix. Who knows we may end up having an interesting set of data after the year is over.
Here is an article covering all of the drone strikes that have happened this year that we know of.
The sixth U.S. drone strike in Pakistan in 2013 has killed at least eight people, as if to announce the impending arrival at the CIA of the drone campaign’s chief advocate.
About 19 miles east of Mirin Shah, the main city in the tribal province of North Waziristan, at least one missile fired by a U.S. Predator or Reaper hit a compound Monday night, killing an alleged, unnamed “foreign tactical trainer” for al-Qaida, according to Pakistani intelligence sources talking to Reuters. Another strike hit the nearby village of Eissu Khel, the Long War Journal reports. In addition to the alleged al-Qaida member, at least seven others were killed and three more were injured.
While the statistical sample is small, it’s starting to sound like the drone campaign over Pakistan is ticking back up after a recent decline. A trio of drone-fired missile strikes between Wednesday and Thursday killed a Pakistani Taliban commander and at least 19 others. Another on Sunday reportedly killed another 17 people, bringing the estimated death toll in this young year to 35.
The U.S. launched 43 drone strikes in Pakistan in 2012, according to the tally kept by the New America Foundation, reflecting a two-year downward trend from 2010′s high of 122 strikes. The average time in between strikes last year was 7.7 days. But eight days into 2013, there have already been six deadly drone strikes, for reasons that remain unclear. It’s worth noting that senior Obama administration officials recently reversed their earlier rhetoric that the U.S. was on the verge of defeating al-Qaida and have returned to describing a protracted shadow campaign.
I think this video says it all. These are Pakstani citizens in this video.
OathKeepingJarhead Admin
Posts : 490 Join date : 2012-09-05 Age : 41 Location : Southeastern Michigan
QUETTA, Pakistan -- A bomb targeting paramilitary soldiers killed 12 people in southwest Pakistan on Thursday, while five suspected militants died in a U.S. drone strike in the country's northwest, officials said.
Separately, an explosion ripped through a crowded mosque in the northwest city of Mingora, killing 21 people and injuring more than 70 others, said hospital official Mian Gul Aleem. The blast was caused by a gas cylinder that exploded, said senior police official Gul Afzal Khan.
The drone strike was the seventh in two weeks, one of the most intense series of attacks in the past two years. During that period, political tensions between the U.S. and Pakistan led to a reduced number of strikes compared to 2010, when they were at their highest.
It's unclear whether the current uptick has been caused by particularly valuable intelligence obtained by the CIA, or whether the warming of relations between the two countries has made strikes less sensitive. Protests by the government and Islamic hardliners have been noticeably muted.
The U.S. views drone attacks as a key weapon against Taliban and al-Qaida militants out of its forces' reach in Pakistan's tribal region. But the attacks are extremely unpopular in Pakistan, posing a problem for the Pakistani government, which has played a double game in the past of denouncing the strikes in public while supporting some of them in private.
The strike on Thursday occurred in a village near Mir Ali, one of the main towns in the North Waziristan tribal area, said Pakistani intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
North Waziristan is located next to the Afghan border and is the main militant sanctuary in Pakistan. The U.S. has repeatedly pushed Pakistan to launch a military offensive in the area, but Islamabad has refused, saying its troops are stretched too thin fighting domestic militants who pose a threat to the state.
