U.S. drone strike Sunday
The security official, whom the New York Times reported did not wish to be identified as he was not authorized to speak about the strike, said that two U.S. drones hit the command of a Uzbek leader named Usman in the Datta Khel subdistrict in the Shawal Valley at 6:40 a.m. They also struck a military vehicle, the official said.
There were reports from various media that a high-value military target was among the dead but there has been no public confirmation. Further, there’s been no statement on whether Usman was in the compound or the vehicle and whether he was among the dead or wounded.
Pakistani jets launch Saturday attack
This was not the only attack carried out over the weekend on militant strongholds. The Pakistan military said their fighter jets launched attacks on Saturday and were successful in killing “as many as 31 terrorists” in the Tirah Valley area of the Khyber Agency.
“Four terrorist hideouts and a suicide bomber training centre were destroyed,” a statement from the Pakistani army’s Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. “As many as 31 terrorists including some suicide bombers were killed.”
The Oman Tribune notes that the Shawal Valley area has been “a hub for Al Qaeda and Taliban militants since the early 2000s” and that the U.S. has long sought to launch more attacks into that area of North Waziristan. The area has often been used by the Taliban to launch strikes against NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Pakistan steps up attacks on militants
The Pakistan military says it has killed more than 1,700 militants in the area since June, while losing 126 soldiers. The June increase in offenses against the Taliban and other militants came in response to a terrorist attack on the country’s busiest airport in Karachi that killed over two dozen.
Attacks on militants stepped up even more after an army-run school in Peshawar was attacked by the Taliban on December 16. About 150 were killed in that attack, over 130 of them schoolchildren.
