Suspected U.S. Strike Kills at Least 60 in Pakistan

[masuki bance]

By PIR ZUBAIR SHAH and SALMAN MASOOD
Published: June 23, 2009

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — An airstrike believed to have been carried out by a United States drone killed at least 60 people at a funeral in South Waziristan on Tuesday, residents of the area and local news reports said.

Details of the attack, which occurred in Makeen, remained unclear, but the reported death toll was exceptionally high. If the reports are indeed accurate and if the attack was carried out by a drone, the strike could be the deadliest since the United States began using the aircraft to fire remotely guided missiles at members of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the tribal areas of Pakistan. The United States carried out 22 previous drone strikes this year, as the Obama administration has intensified a policy inherited from the Bush administration.

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Some reports in the local news media have also suggested that Mr. Mehsud killed Mr. Zainuddin’s father years ago.

Pakistani jets have aimed at Mr. Mehsud’s hide-outs in recent days, and the funeral in Makeen that was hit on Tuesday was being held for a Taliban commander killed that day.

While the strike on the funeral may have been conducted by the Pakistani Air Force, residents and local news reports uniformly attributed it to a United States drone.

The dead may have included top commanders for Mr. Mehsud. The Geo Television Network, quoting unnamed sources, said that the dead included a trainer of suicide bombers named Qari Hussain as well as a Taliban commander named Sangeen, though there was no way to immediately verify the report.

Another television channel, AAJ, put the death toll at 60 and said the attack was carried out by a guided missile.

Sabrina Tavernise contributed reporting from Lahore, Pakistan.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/world/asia/24pstan.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

Heartbreaking.

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ProSense]

3. "This guy is a headcase." Really?

Unless you haven't noticed the government of Pakistan is waging a massive battle in that region, which is a Taliban stronghold.

[jeanpalmer]

6. Yes, most definitely

A person with a conscience wouldn't commit crime like that. And then lecture people about violence. Obama says one thing, and does another. That's his track record so far.

[ProSense]

11. Crime? You don't even have the facts.

Right there in the article it says it could be the government of Pakistan, and there is a strong possibility that this was actually a military operation against the Taliban.

[vaberella]

4. You have a lot of damn nerve. The article clearly shows that no one knows if this is US.n/t

[LittleBlue]

5. It had better not be the US military, for the sake of Pres. Obama's credibility

It's pretty absurd to lecture Iran on the value of human life after blowing up 60 people in a funeral procession.

[jeanpalmer]

7. Wake up

A number of articles attribute the strike to a US drone.

[vaberella]

12. Bush said Sadam had WMDs. I'll wait until it's confirmed...unlike clowns on this site.n/t

[jeanpalmer]

13. Here'a another one

to wait for confirmation on.

So many attacks, so many confirmations. Can't keep track of them.

That's what happens when your President won't do the right thing and stop this nonsense.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090623/ap_on_re_as/as_afghan_girl_burned

[vaberella]

14. What is the point of your post?

It has nothing to do with what I said I'd for confirmation for. You're giving me the details of an unfortunate incident in Afghanistan which was a war, I didn't want, that Obama had campaigned on. So I need to know what this has to do with the Pakistan post?! Don't waste my time with another story to divert from the fact that you have no confirmation but you're running on shit and opening your mouth disparaging the President on a topic that no one has proven is a fact.


I don't like misleading and disingenuous posts in order to push a meme you feel is justified. If it's too hard to remain on topic and stick to the facts then don't bother responding at all.

[Uzybone]

2. Hopefully most/all of them were Taliban fighters

[Oregone]

9. Whatever helps you sleep better at night

[masuki bance]

16. "...said all but five of the dead were civilians..."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31529016/ns/us_news-msnbc_wire_services/


ISLAMABAD - The head of Pakistan's Taliban had joined a funeral procession targeted in a suspected U.S. missile strike, but left before the attack that killed 80 people mourning those struck down by an earlier barrage on a militant training camp, intelligence officials said Wednesday.

A top Taliban aide denied Baitullah Mehsud was anywhere near the missile strike — among the deadliest in an ongoing campaign — and said all but five of the dead were civilians. The intelligence officials, however, said several senior Taliban militants were killed.

Mehsud, accused of plotting suicide bombings and the assassination Tuesday of his chief rival, is the target of a looming offensive by Pakistan's military in the South Waziristan tribal area bordering Afghanistan.

Suspected missile strikes killed several people at a purported Taliban training center early Tuesday, then another barrage rained down on a funeral procession for some of those killed in the first attack.

Two intelligence officials said Wednesday that although Mehsud had visited the village where the funeral took place, he left before the drone-fired missiles killed 80 people and wounded dozens more. The two officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to media, said it was unclear how long before the attack Mehsud left.

....

[Oregone]

8. Bah, lets just keep crying about Neda

[Cali_Democrat]

10. End this bullshit war now, President Obama.

nt

[Forkboy]

15. Rah rah!