USA assassinates german citizens without trial or hearing

THE NATION - PAKISTAN

Drone strikes linked to Europe terror plot: Haqqani
October 6, 2010

Increased US drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas are linked to a terror plot targeting Europe, Pakistan's US envoy said on Wednesday, amid mounting fears that al Qaeda is planning a wave of attacks. Ambassador Hussein Haqqani told the BBC that the increase in strikes in North Waziristan came after intelligence agencies uncovered a plot to "attack multiple targets in Europe". He also said that a strike on Monday in the district which killed eight militants, including five Germans, was linked to the plot. "I think that the activity we see in North Waziristan in terms of strikes... is connected to the terrorist warnings that we have heard about potential strikes in Europe," he told the British broadcaster.
But he urged people to stay calm and vowed intelligence agencies would foil any plot. US drone strikes in Pakistan have increased in recent weeks, with authorities there reporting 24 attacks since September 03 which have killed more than 140 people.

US and German media said the information about possible targets was provided by a German national interrogated at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.
Germany said it was in contact with Pakistani authorities about the drone strike. "The ministry and the embassy are actively pursuing their efforts to clarify the situation," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said. "But for the moment, there is no reliable evidence." According to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution's annual report in June, some 200 Germans or foreigners living in Germany have spent time in Pakistan intending to undergo paramilitary training with Islamist groups.The agency said there are 29 Islamic extremist organisations in Germany, with 36,000 members at the end of 2009 -- 1,500 more than the year before. Haqqani said that "certain people have been arrested in the past, interrogation and other intelligence has revealed that there has been a plot to attack multiple targets in Europe."

"We do not want anybody to panic, there shouldn't be any panic because European, Pakistani and American intelligence services are working together to foil these plots," he added.
The envoy also said Pakistan was committed to fighting terrorists. "Pakistan has been concerned about the presence of terrorists inside Pakistan or in the regions close to Pakistan for a long time and we have been working very hard at eliminating them."


Drone strike kills eight Germans in North Waziristan

Monday, 04 Oct, 2010

MIRANSHAH: A suspected US drone strike killed eight militants of German nationality in northwest Pakistan on Monday, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

They were killed when two missiles from a suspected CIA pilotless aircraft struck a mosque in Mirali in North Waziristan, the intelligence officials said.

The strikes came a day after the United States and Britain issued warnings of an increased risk of terrorist attacks in Europe.

The US State Department warned American citizens to exercise caution if travelling in Europe. Britain raised the threat level to "high" from "general" for its citizens travelling to Germany and France.

The plot that triggered the alerts involved al Qaeda and allied militants, possibly including European citizens or residents, intelligence sources said last week.

They said the militants were plotting coordinated attacks on European cities.

Western security officials said they believed a group of individuals in northern Pakistan were connected to the plot.

The United States has stepped up drone missile bombings on the Pakistan border with Afghanistan.

It is as yet unclear, however, how closely these intensified drone strikes are linked to the reported plot in Europe.


THE NATION - PAKISTAN


One-thirds of Pak drone victims are civilians: US think tank
Published: March 03, 2010

WASHINGTON (Online) – Missile attacks by US drone aircraft in northwest Pakistan since 2004 have killed as many as 1,216 people, one third of them civilians, according to a report by a Washington-based think tank. The unmanned aircraft based in neighbouring Afghanistan have carried out 114 raids in the past six years, killing up to 849 militants, the report by the New American Foundation said.
Since Jan 1, drones have attacked Taliban based in tribal areas 18 times, it said. The minimum number of people who likely died in the total attacks is 834, of whom 549 were thought to have been militants. The data was collated from media reports. This year, drone attacks are believed to have killed Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud, a Taliban commander Mohammad Qari Zafar, and Sheikh Mansoor, an Egyptian-Canadian al-Qaeda leader, the report entitled 'The Year of the Drone' said.