18 Missiles, 14 Dead in Latest Drone Attack
May 11th, 2010Via: Wired:
There was a massive drone attack in Pakistan today — one involving multiple unmanned aircraft and “up to 18 American missiles,” according to the Associated Press. 14 people are dead.
This second robotic strike in three days is the latest sign that the American drone war in Pakistan has reached a new peak. There have been 34 reported attacks in Pakistan in the first 19 weeks on 2010. That’s almost as many as the 36 strikes carried out in all of 2009. And these strikes are no longer against specific, named terrorists. Signs of militant activity are enough to bring in the drones.
The latest target, according to AFP: a training camp “run by militants attached to Taliban-linked Afghan warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who is reputed to control up to 2,000 fighters who attack U.S.-led forces over the border in Afghanistan.” CNN’s national security desk wonders whether the strike is in “retaliation” for the attempted Times Square bombing — which was allegedly inspired, at least in part, by the drone attacks in Pakistan.
American Reaper drones typically fly with four weapons stations. Each of those stations can carry two, 100-pound Hellfire missiles. Last month, however, the Washington Post reported that the CIA had begun outfitting their unmanned attackers with smaller, 35-pound glide bombs. So it’s tough to tell exactly how many drones were involved in the latest strike.
