I Called It!

I swear I didn't read the headlines before I made the last post about the drone strike near Sawal. Another strike at Haqqani near Miram Shah.

From the Longwar Journal (September 14, 2010):

The US continued its unprecedented pace of airstrikes inside of Pakistan's Taliban-control tribal agency of North Waziristan, launching its third Predator attack in 24 hours.

Unmanned US Predators, or the more deadly Reapers, fired five missiles at two compounds in the village of Darga Mandi, which is on the outskirts of Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan.

“Several US drones fired seven missiles at two militants compounds early this morning (Wednesday) killing at least five militants,” a senior Pakistani security official told AFP.

No senior Taliban, Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, or allied terror group leaders have been reported killed in the latest strike.

Darga Mandi is in the sphere of influence of the Haqqani Network, a Taliban group led by mujahedeen commander Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Siraj. The US has stepped up its attacks against the Haqqani Network in North Waziristan as part of a "hammer-and-anvil" strategy to hit the al Qaeda-linked terror network in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, The Associate Press reported.

The US has killed 20 terrorists in the three strikes over the past 24 hours. Earlier today, US Predators fired three missiles at a compound in the village of of Bushnarai in the Shawal area of North Waziristan. Eleven terrorists, including several "foreigners," a term reserved for al Qaeda operatives, were killed in the attack. In the second strike, four "militants" were killed when Predators hit their vehicle in the village of Qutabkhel.