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US Drones Back Up Pakistani Offensive

Predators offer intel on militant positions in South Waziristan

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 23, 2009 9:03 AM CDT

(Newser) – The US military is supporting the Pakistani offensive against Taliban militants in South Waziristan with intelligence and imaging collected by unmanned Predator drones. The support is separate from the CIA program using the drones inside Pakistan to kill terrorist leaders. “We are coordinating with the Pakistanis,” a military official tells the Los Angeles Times. “And we do provide Predator support when requested.”

The material cooperation between the US and Pakistani militaries is unheard of, as the troubled nation has sought to appear independent of its western ally. But “the Pakistanis are getting more and more serious about the militant threat,” the official continues. Insiders say the intelligence focuses on the Taliban’s supply routes and locations. “In this situation, a relatively conventional ground offensive, the Pakistanis want the ability to see over the hill,” a historian says. “And in that, US drones can be a lot of help.”

A Predator drone.
A Predator drone.   (AP Photo)
Pakistani troops hold their positions at a hilltop post in Shingwari, an area in the troubled tribal region South Waziristan along the Afghan border.
Pakistani troops hold their positions at a hilltop post in Shingwari, an area in the troubled tribal region South Waziristan along the Afghan border.   (AP Photo)
Pakistan Army troops patrol during a curfew in Bannu, a town on the edge of Pakistan's lawless tribal belt.
Pakistan Army troops patrol during a curfew in Bannu, a town on the edge of Pakistan's lawless tribal belt.   (AP Photo)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 6 comments
bewilderbeast
Oct 24, 2009 8:14 AM CDT
njgreen, what you smoking? You will never "win this one". Never. Just go home. There's work to do.
bewilderbeast
Oct 24, 2009 8:11 AM CDT
"Team america world police" is going to cause your children and grandkids a LOT of headaches. How long does one have to know you are NOT GOOD at something before you stop doing it?
freethemall
Oct 24, 2009 3:57 AM CDT
If, indeed, “the Pakistanis are getting more and more serious about the militant threat,” , it would seem to me that this would not be the time for us (US) to slack off on our seriousness. This is not to say that we should not recognize the limits of our power, but we, obviously, should do what we are capable of doing, to meet the threat.

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