Pakistan: "Over 700 killed in 44 drone strikes in 2009"

DAWN.COM (DawnNews):

For each Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorist killed by US drones, 140 innocent Pakistanis also had to die. On average, 58 civilians were killed in these attacks every month, 12 persons every week and almost two people every day.--PESHAWAR: Of the 44 predator strikes carried out by US drones in the tribal areas of Pakistan over the past 12 months, only five were able to hit their actual targets, killing five key Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders, but at the cost of over 700 innocent civilians.

According to the statistics compiled by Pakistani authorities, the Afghanistan-based US drones killed 708 people in 44 predator attacks targeting the tribal areas between January 1 and December 31, 2009.

For each Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorist killed by US drones, 140 innocent Pakistanis also had to die. Over 90 per cent of those killed in the deadly missile strikes were civilians, claim authorities.

The success percentage for the drone hits during 2009 was hardly 11 per cent. On average, 58 civilians were killed in these attacks every month, 12 persons every week and almost two people every day. Most of the attacks were carried out on the basis of human intelligence, reportedly provided by the Pakistani and Afghan tribesmen, who are spying for the US-led allied forces in Afghanistan.

Of the five successful predator attacks carried out in 2009, the first one came on January 1, which reportedly killed two senior al-Qaeda leaders – Usama al-Kin and Sheikh Ahmed Salim – both wanted by the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Kin was the chief operational commander of Al-Qaeda in Pakistan and had replaced Abu Faraj Al Libi after his arrest in 2004.

The second successful drone attack was conducted on August 5 in South Waziristan that killed the most wanted fugitive chief of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Baitullah Mehsud along with his wife.

The US State Department had announced a $5 million head money reward for information leading to Baitullah, making him the only Pakistani fugitive with the head money separately announced by Islamabad and Washington.

Howie P.S.: Glenn Greenwald points out some other unintended consequences of the current efforts to counter "terrorism" in "The backfiring of the Surveillance State." GRITtv, video (21:52), asks "Is Yemen the New Front in the “War On Terror”?":

Suddenly the newspapers and cable news shows are talking about Yemen as the newest site for Al Qaeda. Yemeni authorities have been ramping up attacks against militants, with U.S. aid, and after the failed attempt to bring down a U.S.-bound airplane over Christmas, the rhetoric has just grown more incendiary: John McCain said, “The government of Yemen is going to need our help in combating Al-Qaeda. There needs to be significant effort made at improving their economy.”

So what’s really going on? Abdul-Ghani Al-Iryani, a political analyst, spoke to us from Sana’a, Yemen, and then Michael Bronner, investigative journalist and Vanity Fair contributor, and Christoph Wilcke, Human Rights Watch Senior Researcher, Middle East and North Africa Division, join us in studio to discuss the situation further.

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