Taliban Chief Hakimullah Mehsood killed in U.S. drone strike

Pakistani Taliban Chief, Hakimullah Mehsood was killed in a U.S. drone attack in North Waziristan tribal region late Friday, security sources said.

Security sources said that Tariq Mehsood, the personal guard of the Taliban Chief Hakimullah Mehsood, and his driver Abdullah Mehsood were among those killed

U.S. missiles struck the vehicle being used by Hakimullah Mehsood and a compound where the Taliban had been holding central council’s meeting at Dandey Darpakhel area, a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban.

Sources in North Waziristan say that Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has confirmed their chief’s death and the report. They said Taliban announced his funeral will be held in North Waziristan on Saturday.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan did not confirm claim by the security sources.

Taliban sources said the Taliban senior leaders were holding meeting of their central council to chalk out strategy for the talks with the government when targeted by the U.S. missiles. Hakimullah Mehsood was scheduled to preside over the council’s meeting.

Three other Taliban commanders were also killed in the strike.

The Interior Minister angrily reacted to the U.S. attack as it was carried out at a time when the government was set to begin talks with the Taliban militants.

He said in a statement that the government has planned to send a three member delegation for initial discussion with the Taliban on Saturday.

“We think that the latest drone attack was an attempt to sabotage the dialogue,” Chaudhry Nisar said.

Another report said that the local Taliban chief, Hafiz Gul Bahadar, Friday asked the residents to leave North Waziristan for a week in view of the deteriorating situation in the region.

A pamphlet distributed in the region asked the people to take their precious items with them.

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Interior Minister says US drone attack sabotages Taliban talks

Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Friday condemned a latest U.S. drone attack and termed it as an attempt to sabotage the proposed peace talks with the Taliban.

The U.S. unmanned aircraft fired missiles on a house and vehicles of the Pakistani Taliban leaders in North Waziristan tribal region and killed six of them.

Local media said the American drone launched the strike at a time when the Taliban leaders were holding a meeting in their stronghold Dandey Darpakhel area.

Two Taliban figures Tariq Mehsood, the personal guard of the Taliban Chief Hakimullah Mehsood, and another commander identified as Abdullah were among those killed, section of the local media reported. Reports also said that Abdullah was also driver was of Hakimullah Mehsood.

Geo television reported that the vehicle targeted in the strike was being used by the chief of Pakistani Taliban chief, Hakimullah Mehsood. But it was not clear if Hakimullah Mehsood was in the vehicle at the time of the strike.

Dunya TV quoted security sources that Hakimullah Mehsood was killed in the strike.

Taliban and the government have not officially confirmed the reports.

The Interior Minister angrily reacted to the U.S. attack as it was carried out at a time when the government was set to begin talks with the Taliban militants.

He said in a statement that the government has planned to send a three member delegation for initial discussion with the Taliban on Saturday.

“We think that the latest drone attack was an attempt to sabotage the dialogue,” Chaudhry Nisar said.

Local media quoted security sources as saying that the American spy aircraft struck the Taliban compound when the Taliban were holding meeting of their central council. Hakimullah Mehsood was scheduled to preside over the council’s meeting.

Some sources said the meeting was called to discuss strategy for talks with the government.

Reports suggested that the Taliban were holding meeting when the US drone rained missiles into the area.

Another report said that the local Taliban chief, Hafiz Gul Bahadar, Friday asked the residents to leave North Waziristan for a week in view of the deteriorating situation in the region.

A pamphlet distributed in the region asked the people to take their precious items with them.

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U.S. drone targets Hakimullah Mehsud's vehicle, house: reports

An American spy aircraft late Friday targeted the vehicle being used by Pakistani Taliban chief, Hakimullah Mehsood and his house in North Waziristan tribal region, TV channels reported.

It was not clear if Hakimullah was in the vehicle or home at the time of the strike which killed at least six people in Dandi Darpakhel area.

There was no confirmation by the government and the Taliban of the reports.

Geo TV reported that the targeted vehicle was being used by Hakimullah Mehsood.

Some reports said the drone also targeted a compound of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and Hakimullah Mehsood was frequent visitor of the place.

Dunya TV reported that Tariq Mehsood, personal guard of Hakimullah Mehsood, was killed in the attack.

Reports suggested that the Taliban were holding meeting when the US drone rained missiles into the area. Missiles landed when the participants of the meeting were heading to vehicles at the conclusion of the meeting.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan condemned the strike at an attempt to sabotage the dialogue process with the Taliban.

He said that the government has planned to send a three member delegation for initial discussion with the Taliban.

Section of the TV channels quoted security sources as saying that they do not have any confirmation of the names of those killed in the strike.

Another report said that the local Taliban chief, Hafiz Gul Bahadar, Friday asked the residents to leave North Waziristan for a week in view of the deteriorating situation in the region.

A pamphlet distributed in the region asked the people to take their precious items with them.

U.S. drone kills four people in North Waziristan

An American spy aircraft fired missiles into North Waziristan tribal region late Friday and killed at least four people, security officials said.

The drone targeted a house in Dandi Darpakhel area of North Waziristan, bordering Afghanistan, they said.

There was no report about the identity of the slain men.

It was the second U.S. attack in the same region in two days.

At least three people were killed in an U.S. attack near Miranshah, the center of North Waziristan early Thursday.

The U.S. increased the drone attacks after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Washington. He had called for end to the attacks in his meeting with President Barrack Obama at the White House last week.

A religious group on Friday staged rallies against the drone strikes and a religious leader urged the government to shoot down U.S. spy aircraft after entering the country’s airspace.

The Amnesty International came up with a detailed field research on nine of 45 reported drone strikes that occurred between January 2012 and August 2013 in North Waziristan region—and found that the US might be responsible for up to 900 civilian deaths.

Quoting some Pakistan government and NGO sources, the report said the US launched some 330 to 374 drone strikes in Pakistan between 2004 and September 2013,” which resulted in estimates of between “400 and 900 civilians having been killed in these attacks and at least 600 people seriously injured.

The AI described the attacks as a war crime, a position which Pakistan leadership can dare endorse.

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Hafiz Saeed asks gov't to shoot down U.S. drone aircraft

Hafiz Saeed, chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, on Friday called upon the government to shoot down American spy aircraft when they violate the country’s airspace to fire missiles into the tribal regions.

He told anti-US drone strikes rally in Lahore that the nation is disappointed at the continuation of U.S. drone strikes and the government must act now to bring the drones down.

Saeed’s outfit staged rallies in major cities to condemn the U.S. drone attacks just a day after a fresh attack killed at least three people in North Waziristan tribal region.

The Foreign Ministry also condemned the Waziristan strike and warned that these attacks are harmful for inter-state relations.

“The government must take practical steps to stop drone stacks rather than making statements,” Saeed said.

He called upon the government to order halt to the NATO supplies through Pakistani soil if the U.S. continued drone attacks.

He said Pakistan is not bound to act on bilateral agreements with the U.S. as it is violating the country’s sovereignty.

“The U.S. has imposed war on Pakistan and Americans are responsible for the suicide attacks and bomb blasts in the country,” he said.

He also accused the U.S. of sabotaging the proposed talks with the Pakistani Taliban, warning the government to be aware of the conspiracies.

Pakistani media also condemned the Thursday’s strike and described it more embarrassing for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who in his recent meeting with President Barack Obama had demanded end to the drone strikes.

At his meeting with the US president, Mr Sharif also said the drones kill innocent people and are counterproductive.

“The US appears to be determined to use the drones, no matter who and how many are killed, to keep the government under constant pressure and force it to play a favourable role while US troops pull out of Afghanistan,” The Nation newspaper said in its comments on Friday.

The Amnesty International came up with a detailed field research on nine of 45 reported drone strikes that occurred between January 2012 and August 2013 in North Waziristan region—and found that the US might be responsible for up to 900 civilian deaths.

Quoting some Pakistan government and NGO sources, the report said the US launched some 330 to 374 drone strikes in Pakistan between 2004 and September 2013,” which resulted in estimates of between “400 and 900 civilians having been killed in these attacks and at least 600 people seriously injured.

The AI described the attacks as a war crime, a position which Pakistan leadership can dare endorse.

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Nawaz Sharif says talks with Taliban have started

Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, Thursday said talks with the Taliban militants have started to stop killing of more people and security officials.

Mr Sharif offered comments in his meeting with British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in London, the PM office in Islamabad said.

“The Prime Minister informed that the dialogue with the Taliban has started,” the statement from the PM office said.

Mr Sharif said that he hoped and prayed the dialogue works within the Constitutional framework of Pakistan.

The statement quoted the Prime Minister as saying that his government could not wait and see the innocent people and members of law enforcement agencies being killed in the streets of Pakistan.

The government opted for the talks weeks after a parliamentary conference called upon the government to initiate talks with the Taliban to find out a political solution to the problem of terrorism and violent extremism.

Opposition parties had been critical at the government for delay in the Taliban talks in view of series of deadly attacks over the past two months that had killed nearly 200 people only in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

Nawaz Sharif said the government was making its counter-terrorism forces and intelligence agencies fully capable to root out extremism and terrorism from Pakistan.

“The enhancement of the capacity of the counter-terrorism forces was a part of different options to deal with extremism and terrorism,” he elaborated.

The Prime Minister also briefed Mr Clegg on the recently promulgated Protection of Pakistan Ordinance and said that it was specifically prepared to deal with those terrorists who were waging war against the people and the state of Pakistan.

On Pakistan-India relations, the Prime Minister said that he had made sincere efforts to resolve all outstanding issues with India. “We have made India bashing a non-issue in Pakistan but unfortunately Indian politicians are still engaged in unwarranted Pakistan bashing”, he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Mr Clegg told Prime Minister Sharif that he and his government was full of admiration for his pro-active approach of reaching out to India before and after elections.

He assured that the UK would fully support Pakistan’s case for GSP Plus in the EU market. Mr Clegg also appreciated recently introduced economic reforms agenda by the Pakistan government.

Pakistan condemns fresh US drone strike that killed three people

Pakistan on Thursday strongly condemned a latest U.S. drone strike in the country’s North Waziristan tribal region which killed at least three people.

The spy aircraft, in a pre-dawn attack, fired missiles in Miranshah, the center of North Waziristan, security officials and residents said.

“The Government of Pakistan strongly condemns the US drone strike that took place in Miranshah, North Waziristan in early hours of 31 October. These strikes are a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the Foreign Ministry said.

“There is an across the board consensus in Pakistan that these drone strikes must end,” a Foreign Ministry statement said hours after the strike.

It said the Government of Pakistan has consistently maintained that drone strikes are counter-productive, entail loss of innocent civilian lives and have human rights and humanitarian implications.

“Such strikes also set dangerous precedents in the inter-state relations,” the Foreign Ministry warned.

It went on to say that these drone strikes have a negative impact on the mutual desire of both countries to forge a cordial and cooperative relationship and to ensure peace and stability in the region.

The Thursday attack was the first strike in almost a month with the last drone attack being reported on September 30.

The attack comes almost a week after a rights groups Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch both released their reports on drone strikes and followed a report by UN Special Rapproteur on the same topic.

The strike occurred juts days after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif raised the issue of drone attacks with President Barrack Obama at the White House.

Pakistan regularly condemns the attacks as a violation of sovereignty and are counter productive.

On Wednesday, the Pakistani Senate was told by the interior ministry in a written statement that only 67 civilians had been killed in drone strikes since 2008, a figure in conflict with other numbers previously released by the government and those cited by rights groups.

The submission said there had been 317 drone strikes in Pakistan since 2008, killing 2,160 militants and 67 civilians.

Opposition groups disputed the official figures and insisted that civilian deaths are high than the government has presented in the parliament.