Air strikes by drones effective in Waziristan

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Washington Times:

By Raza Khan-The Washington Times8:43 p.m., Sunday, January 16, 2011

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan | Extensive CIA-operated Predator drone strikes against remote hide-outs of al Qaeda, the Taliban and other groups in Pakistan are forcing many insurgents out of Waziristan to other areas.

Sources in the North Waziristan tribal region, the area where most of the drone strikes occurred in 2010, said the pervasive attacks have been nonstop and appear to be increasing. These sources suggest that because of a fear of being targeted, fewer insurgents are showing up in the main bazaars of North Waziristan.

"After the great increase in American drone attacks, we could see very few fighters, particularly foreign militants. Previously, they used to roam around in large numbers fearlessly," shopkeeper Aslam Wazir told The Washington Times by telephone from Mir Ali.

Mir Ali is the second-largest town in North Waziristan and is considered a major redoubt of al Qaeda and Pakistani insurgents, the main reason it has seen the largest number of Predator strikes over the past year.

Of the 124 U.S. drone attacks in 2010 in Pakistan's tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan, 83 percent were carried out in North Waziristan.

**FILE** In this photo from Jan. 31, 2010, a U.S. Predator drone flies above Kandahar Air Field in southern Afghanistan. (Associated Press)
Most observers and experts agree the attacks in Pakistan have been highly effective.