CFR Update: U.S. Drone Strike Targest Militans in Pakistan

Daily News Brief January 3, 2013

Top of the Agenda: U.S. Drone Strike Targets Militants in Pakistan

Multiple U.S. drone strikes on Thursday killed ten people, including Taliban warlord Mullah Nazir (Dawn) and five of his companions, in Pakistan's South and North Waziristan tribal regions. The attack has the potential to substantially alter the power balance in the Taliban heartland. Nazir was the main militant commander in South Waziristan and had expelled foreign militants from the area after signing non-aggression pacts (Reuters) with the Pakistani military between 2007 and 2009. At the same time, Nazir continued attacks on U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Analysts say his death could become a contentious issue (BBC) between Washington and Islamabad, as the Pakistani military views commanders like Nazir as essential for key to internal peace-keeping.

Analysis

"Mullah Nazir headed one of the three major Taliban groups in the Waziristan region that have had peaceful relations with the Pakistani military--the other two being the Haqqani network and the group led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur. As such, his death is likely to upset the crucial strategic balance in the region which the Pakistani forces have worked hard to maintain," writes M Ilyas Khan for the BBC.

"He sent his fighters across the border to battle American and Afghan forces, and avoided taking on the Pakistani military, leaving him at odds with the leadership of the Pakistan Taliban led by Hakimullah Mehsud, based around North Waziristan. As a result, his death could upset the careful balance that the Pakistan military has tried to build in the troubled tribal areas that border Afghanistan," writes Rob Crilly for The Telegraph.

"According to facts and figures compiled by the Ministry of Interior, of the 2,670 people killed by the U.S. drones, 487 were innocent civilians including 171 children and 43 women. Of the remaining 2,183 people killed by the drones, hardly 42 were high value CIA targets while the rest of 2,141 people were believed to be low and mid-level al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked operatives," writes Amir Mir for The News.