Post date: Jan 03, 2013 10:23:16 AM
A U.S. drone strike kills a Taliban commander, his deputy and eight others in northwest Pakistan, intelligence sources and tribal leaders say.
WANA, PAKISTAN (REUTERS) - A U.S. drone strike killed a key Taliban commander, his deputy and eight others in northwest Pakistan, intelligence sources and tribal leaders said Thursday (January 3), deaths that could substantially alter the power balance in the Taliban heartland of Waziristan.
Maulvi Nazir Wazir, also known as Mullah Nazir, was killed on Wednesday (January 2) night when missiles struck a mud house in South Waziristan, near the Afghan border, intelligence sources and residents said.He had survived at least one previous drone attack and was wounded weeks earlier in a bomb attack believed to have been launched by Taliban rivals.
His key commanders and his deputy, Ratta Khan, were also killed in the attack at Angoor Adda, near the provincial capital of Wana, sources said.
Nazir had expelled foreign militants from his area, favoured attacking American forces inAfghanistan and had signed non-aggression pacts with the Pakistani military in 2007 in 2009.
That put him at odds with some other Pakistan Taliban commanders, but earned him a reputation as a "good" Taliban among some in the Pakistan military.
Nazir's successor was announced in front of a crowd of thousands at his funeral, a witness said. People will be watching closely to see if fellow Wazir tribesman SalahudDin Ayubi continues with Nazir's policies.
The military has a large base in Wana, where Nazir and his men were based.
Nazir presided over an uneasy peace between the militants and the army there, but the truce was endangered by the military's alliance with the United States and drone strikes, a military officer said recently.
Intensified U.S. drone strikes have killed many senior Taliban leaders, including the former leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, in 2009.
The strikes dramatically increased when U.S. President Barack Obama took office. There were only five drone strikes in 2007. The number of strikes peaked at 117 in 2010 before declining to 46 last year.
Some Pakistanis say the drone strikes are an infringement of sovereignty and have called for a halt. Others, including some residents of the tribal areas, say they are killingTaliban commanders who have terrorized the local population.
The insecurity will be a key issue in elections scheduled for this spring. The nuclear-armed nation of 180 million has a history of military coups, but these polls should mark the first time one elected civilian government hands power to another.