Tag Archives: Pakistan war

Pakistani officials arrest man who says he aided Times Square bomb suspect

Officials in Pakistan arrested a man with ties to a Pakistani militant group who claimed to have aided Faisal Shahzad, the suspect arrested for the attempted Times Square bombing, The Washington Post reported on Friday, May 14.

U.S. officials told the paper that the suspect, who U.S. officials declined to identify, provided an “independent stream” of evidence that the Pakistani Taliban were behind the attempt and admitted to helping Shahzad travel into Pakistan’s tribal area for bomb training. Officials familiar with the investigation cautioned about inconsistencies in the two suspects’ accounts, The Post reported, noting that phone records, e-mails and other communication were still being examined.

There are discrepancies, unnamed officials told the paper, relating to the details and chronology of Shahzad’s travel and training. Officials said the conflicts have raised some questions about the reliability of the suspects’ information, but have not cast significant doubt on the overall understanding of the plot, The Post reported.

Further reading: The Washington Post story

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Tracking people and money offered as “new defenses” by Senate committee

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has called for “new defenses” to tighten screening and tracking of travelers and money between the U.S. and Pakistan, The Washington Times reported.

On May 11, the committee was briefed privately by intelligence and law enforcement officials on the investigation of Faisal Shahzad, the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing, and how similar cases could be prevented, the paper said.

Three ideas emerged from the briefing: tracking people who travel between the U.S. and Pakistan every year, tracking how money is transferred between the U.S. and Pakistan and sending the no-fly list to airlines every 30 minutes. The Obama administration has proposed a two-hour required update for no-fly lists.

Further reading: The Washington Times story

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U.S. launched drone attacks in North Waziristan region of Pakistan

The U.S. launched a major drone attack Tuesday, May 11, in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan to retaliate against Taliban militants in the area where Faisal Shahzad, accused of the attempted Times Square bombing, is said to have trained, the Financial Times reported.

Two targets were hit: a vehicle driving three militants through a village and a nearby compound used for training recruits, the Financial Times reported.

A Pakistani intelligence official told the newspaper that the attack was “Washington’s payback” because the U.S. claimed Shahzad is connected to Taliban militants and is said to have trained in the region.

CNN reported that local Pakistani officials said the area is controlled by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a “renowned commander and shrewd tactician” who “has been close to al-Qaida and another terror group known as the Haqqani Network.”

In a profile published in April 2010 in Foreign Policy magazine by Mansur Khan Mahsud, research coordinator of the FATA Research Center in Islamabad, Bahadur is described as “a strategic pragmatist, maintaining close relations with a host of militants in North Waziristan while avoiding confrontation with the Pakistani state that might initiate a powerful crackdown.” Mahsud also stated that Bahadur is “the most important Pakistani militant leader in North Waziristan.”

The New York Times reported on Tuesday, May 11, that the attacks “appeared to be a continuation of the air campaign to degrade the capabilities of” al-Qaida, the Pakistani Taliban and the Afghan Taliban in North Waziristan, raising questions about strained relations between the U.S. and Pakistan.

“You can’t bomb a country increasingly and expect cordial relations at the same time,” an unnamed Pakistan foreign ministry official told the Financial Times.

Further reading: Financial Times story, CNN story, Bahadur profile in Foreign Policy magazine, The New York Times story

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CIA approved to launch more drone strikes in Pakistan

The U.S. government gave the CIA approval to launch more drone strikes against Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters in the tribal regions of Pakistan.

Drone strikes, previously limited to top al Qaeda leaders, have expanded to include “low-level fighters whose identities may not be known,” Reuters reported.

CNN reported that “drone-launched missiles are now hitting lower-level al Qaeda and Taliban personnel, camps, training areas, bomb makers, buildings and other targets in the remote region.” It also quotes an unnamed official, who explained that the “expansive target set was originally approved in the final months of the Bush administration in late 2008, but has been stepped up under the Obama White House.” CNN also reports that increased drone strikes are ” seen as a key strategy to help protect the growing number of U.S. forces in neighboring Afghanistan from insurgents operating in Pakistan’s border region.”

The Los Angeles Times reported that the expanded drone strikes rely on what is called  “pattern of life” analysis, which uses evidence collected by surveillance cameras on the unmanned aircraft and from other sources about individuals and locations. The collected information is used to target suspected militants, the Times reported.

“The enemy has lost not just operational leaders and facilitators — people whose names we know — but formations of fighters and other terrorists. We might not always have their names, but … these are people whose actions over time have made it obvious that they are a threat,” a senior U.S. counter-terrorism official told the Times.

The approval for more drone strikes comes at a time when many inside and outside the government question their legality. Wired’s Danger Room reported that “the connection between the robotic strikes over there and [U.S.] safety here appears to be growing. The Pakistani Taliban, who have claimed credit for the botched Times Square bombing, say the car bomb was in retaliation for drone strikes.” It also reported that drones are just one aspect of the war in Pakistan, echoing a statement made to CNN by  Frances Fragos Townsend, a former homeland security adviser to President George W. Bush, and now a CNN intelligence analyst, that drones are just one tool in the larger strategy.

Further reading: Reuters, CNN, LA Times, Wired’s Danger Room

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