US drone kills seven in NW Pakistan: security officials

Gunmen destroy oil tankers, kill three police in Pakistan
Islamabad (AFP) April 25, 2010 - Gunmen in Pakistan destroyed four tankers transporting fuel to NATO troops in neighbouring Afghanistan and killed three police officials in an exchange of fire on Saturday, police said. The incident took place in Talagang town, 158 kilometres (98 miles) south of Islamabad. "Unknown gunmen opened fire on the four tankers, which were parked at a gas station in Talagang town, causing a massive fire," regional police officer Aslam Tareen told AFP. "A police patrol in the area engaged the gunmen, which triggered an exchange of fire, killing three policemen."

He said the gunmen later fled and rescue officials were trying to extinguish the fire. Another local police official, Abid Riaz, confirmed the incident and the death toll. He said that the fire engulfed the gas station and nearby shops. Militants have carried out a series of strikes against supplies for US and NATO-led foreign forces fighting the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. The bulk of supplies and equipment required by the foreign troops across the border are shipped through northwest Pakistan's tribal region of Khyber. US officials say northwest Pakistan has become a safe haven for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who fled the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan and have regrouped to launch attacks on foreign troops across the border

EU set to acquire mobile lab for IED forensics
Brussels (AFP) April 23, 2010 - EU defence ministers are set to agree Monday on acquiring a mobile field lab to analyse road side bomb attacks to help with protection and detection, a diplomatic source said. Such a "field laboratory for forensic research of roadside bombs" would be deployed, probably in Afghanistan. to study the site of bomb attacks on military convoys and the like. At the moment Europe has very limited means at its disposal in terms of such expensive mobile equipment.

The findings of such research into home-made bombs would be highly sensitive and must not end up in the wrong hands, or it could have the opposite of the desired effect, one senior European official said. European defence ministers will meet in Luxembourg on Monday to give the green light to the plan, with the European Defence Agency picking up the million-euro tab. The plan is to deploy the equipment, probably in Afghanistan, by mid-2011, the source said.

The defence ministers are also expected to choose the "lead nation" in charge of managing the project, with support from its EU colleagues. The results of the forensic research would then be made available to all EDA member states -- the 27 EU nations minus Denmark. The EDA was created in 2004 to promote European cooperation in the armaments field and promote research in defence matters.

by Staff Writers
Miranshah, Pakistan (AFP) April 24, 2010
A US drone fired three missiles into a militant compound in Pakistan's tribal area near the Afghan border on Saturday, killing seven militants, security officials said.

The strike took place at 9:00 pm (1600 GMT) in Marsikhel area, 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan, which is known as a hub for Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants.

The nationalities of the seven dead were not immediately clear, a senior Pakistani security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Another security official confirmed the strike and the death toll and said: "We don't know yet if any high-value target was present in the area at the time of attack."

The strike came a day after seven Pakistani soldiers were killed and 16 wounded when militants armed with guns and rocket launchers ambushed their convoy, which was on a routine mission from Miranshah to Dattakhel town.

US forces have been waging a covert drone war against Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked commanders in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt, where militants have carved out havens in mountainous areas outside direct government control.

US officials say drone strikes are a vital weapon in the war to defeat Al-Qaeda and reverse the Taliban insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan, where Washington is leading a major troop surge.

Critics say the hi-tech strikes risk radicalising local populations, particularly if civilians are killed.

More than 870 people have been killed in nearly 100 drone strikes in Pakistan since August 2008.

North Waziristan's prominence in the covert drone war has grown since a Jordanian Al-Qaeda double agent blew himself up killing seven CIA employees in a neighbouring Afghan province in December.

Islamist militants in Pakistan's tribal belt are believed to be supporting the nearly nine-year insurgency in Afghanistan.

North Waziristan is a fortress of Al-Qaeda, Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, and the affiliated Haqqani network, set up by Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani and now effectively run by his ambitious son Sirajuddin.

Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked groups have been blamed for a wave of suicide and bomb attacks that have killed nearly 3,300 people across Pakistan since 2007.

Pakistan claims to have made big gains against home grown Taliban over the past year following campaigns in the northwestern district of Swat and South Waziristan, but has yet to launch a major campaign in North Waziristan.

Pakistan launched a punishing assault against Taliban militants in Orakzai, another tribal district, last month amid increased US pressure for more operations against rebels.

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China vows economic growth in restive Xinjiang
Beijing (AFP) April 23, 2010
China's top leadership has decided to ramp up development in its restive Xinjiang region, state media said Friday, where ethnic Uighurs have long complained of missing out on economic growth. The decision was taken in a meeting of the ruling Communist Party's powerful nine-member inner circle presided over by President Hu Jintao, the official Xinhua news agency said. It said the move was ... read more

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