UAV attacks enemy in Pakistan

NY Times:

Two missiles fired from American pilotless drones killed up to 32 people, including Arab and Uzbek fighters of Al Qaeda and the Taliban, in South Waziristan on Saturday morning, according to a Pakistani intelligence official and local residents.

The attack, which occurred between 9:30 and 10 am, targeted an area close to Makeen, the headquarters of the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud.

The intelligence official said the missiles had hit a mud-walled compound owned by a local resident, Roshaan Khan, in an area said to be a hub of local and foreign fighters aligned with Mr. Mehsud and that they could have been intended for Mr. Mehsud himself. But Mr. Mehsud was not among those killed, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

If Mr. Mehsud was the target of the attack, the intelligence official said, it would be one of the first times that American missiles were aimed at the Pakistani.

Some Pakistani security officials have complained that the American missile attacks have been aimed solely at Al Qaeda and Taliban who cross the border into Afghanistan to fight American and NATO soldiers.

The officials have said that if the Americans were going to attack targets in the tribal areas, where Al Qaeda, with the support of the Taliban, have built safe havens, the Taliban that operate against Pakistan should also be targeted. Mr. Mehsud is considered responsible for many of the more than 60 suicide attacks in Pakistan last year.

The attack followed the statement in Congress on Friday by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California and the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, that the pilotless aircraft take off from a base inside Pakistan.

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I agree with the Pakistani official who says we should attack Taliban leadership that is attacking Pakistan. They are responsible for the attacks on our supply line and need to be destroyed. It is not clear to me why we are not attacking them unless there was a prior agreement with Pakistan's government to limit the attacks to those involved in cross border operations.

The daylight attack seems a little unusual. My speculation is that it was based on intelligence from sources in Pakistan, and there was some concern the enemy forces might not be there long. The description of the Arabs and Uzbeks suggest they were al Qaeda.