Whatever else might disturb you, surely, the breakdown of law must top your list of concerns
Full moon rises over war crime, crimes against humanity, lies, corruption in high places
A woman reporting from the ground of one of the United States’ theaters of aggression said this week that this is not “war” but war crime. These are not wars but war crimes — raw aggression against unarmed people, against peoples of the world who have taken up arms against no one and no nation. Think of not only those killed or those trapped in unrelenting violence and those left to suffer disease and want. Think also of those forced to flee — some dying en route packed in rickety boats, some surviving and arriving in foreign ports where those whose wars forced them to flee their country subject them to more suffering, more threats and violence.
A major “Drone War” report by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism illustrates the reckless impunity of unchecked power that we persist in permitting at our own peril.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism produces high-quality investigations for press and broadcast media in an effort to bolster original journalism. London based at the City University, after one year in existence, it has secured more than a dozen front-page stories and produced a number of award-winning web, radio and TV documentaries. The Bureau collaborated with WikiLeaks in the Iraq War logs expose.
Now, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism though taking backlash and denial from U.S. officials and the Central Intelligence Agency has released compelling data and analysis of U.S.-led NATO drone killings of civilians in Pakistan.
Their study reveals that of 116 drone strikes that took place between August 2010 and an administration speech on June 29, 2011— Ten drone strikes resulted in deaths of at least 45 civilians; Six named children killed by these strikes; Fifteen additional strikes (est.) likely to have killed many more civilians.
U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan have risen from one a year (in 2004) to one every four days (under President Barack Obama)
PAKISTAN [U.S Covert Drone War]
Drone War in Numbers
Total killed 2,292 - 2,863
Civilians killed 385 - 775
Total strikes 291
Obama strikes 239
- 291 CIA attacks have taken place in Pakistan – 8 percent more than previously reported.
- Under President Obama alone there have been 236 strikes – one every four days.
- Between 2,292 and 2,863 people are reported to have died in the attacks – most of them militants
- The minimum number of reported deaths is far higher than previously believed – with 40 percent more recorded casualties. Most of those killed are likely to be low-ranking militants.
- 126 named militants have so far been killed.
- Credible news reports of 385-775 civilians killed in the attacks collated by the Bureau
- Credible reports of 164 children killed in the drone strikes identified
- Under President George W. Bush, one in three of all attacks (reported to have) killed a child.
- Accurate details of recorded injuries in drone strikes reveal at least 1,114 people have been wounded - first-time compilation by Bureau
Contrary to government assertions that “‘there has not been a single collateral [civilian] death’ in Pakistan since August 2010, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has uncovered documented evidence that these assertions are “untrue.”
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism’s “detailed examination of 116 CIA ‘secret’ drone strikes in Pakistan since August 2010 has uncovered at least 10 individual attacks in which 45 or more civilians appear to have died.”
Seven years of CIA strikes killing children
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism “has identified credible reports of 168 children killed in seven years of CIA drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas. These children would account for 44 percent of the minimum figure of 385 civilians reported killed by the attacks.”
‘One in three’— the highest number of child deaths occurred during the Bush presidency, with 112 children reportedly killed. More than a third of all Bush drone strikes appear to have resulted in the deaths of children.
Escalating War — 56 Pakistani children have died in drone attacks during the Obama presidency, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism’s findings.
The U.S. response has been denial. “A U.S. counter-terrorism official,” quoted by the Investigative Journalism bureau denied civilian deaths and quipped, “‘Nobody is arguing perfection over the life of the program but this remains the most precise system we’ve ever had in our arsenal.’”
UNICEF’s response was that even one death of a child from drone missiles or suicide bombings, “‘is one child death too many.’”
Civilians
Drone strikes rained down across Pakistan’s tribal regions and civilian deaths – or ‘collateral damage’ – rose commensurately.
The Investigative Journalism Bureau reports its analysis showing that, in the 30 strikes between May 1 and August 23 2010, 185 to 225 people died. Among the dead were at least 16 and possibly as many as 56 civilians. In one in three strikes possibly civilians died.
Backlash
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and unnamed ‘US officials,’ the investigative journalism group says, “are attempting to undermine the Bureau’s investigation into U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan.” Counter-terrorism officials “are attempting to link the Bureau’s ‘suspect’ work to unsubstantiated allegations that one of its many sources is a Pakistani spy; and “the CIA is directly challenging the data itself.” However, the group says their drone study – a 22,000-word online resource, coupled with search engines, maps and graphics – provides the most comprehensive public understanding yet of the covert CIA drone war.” Moreover, their material “has been transparently sourced.” It “draws on more than 2,000 news reports, intelligence estimates, legal cases, and their own researchers’ fieldwork” among other sources.
Vigilance
Covert war: scrutiny essential, more complex
U.S. military emphasis in recent years has shifted dramatically towards covert operations. Special Forces troops on the ground and unmanned CIA planes in the air are now key instruments in the U.S. military arsenal. “The new warfare” is in evidence in the assassination of Osama bin Laden and drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen.
“As the ‘War on Terror’ enters its second decade,” the Investigative Journalism Bureau warns, “public scrutiny and accountability remain critical. The first ten years saw significant military excess uncovered by journalists: Abu Ghraib; rendition; torture and secret prisons; and financial scandal. Some of these were the work of covert forces, others by the regular military.
PAKISTAN
PRESS TV REPORTS
Servants and guards working at the apparent residence of the U.S. national are arrested for interrogation
Today, ten people reportedly took a U.S. national identified as Justin Warner from his residence in the Model Town area of Lahore, Pakistan. For the past four or five years, Warner had been living at the compound. [Xinhua]
A political analyst told Press TV that most of the people in Pakistan “are opposing drone attacks anywhere” in the country “because they think innocent people — especially women and children — are dying in these attacks.” The people say the attacks should stop immediately. People in the American consulate as well as Pakistanis oppose the strikes.
Islamabad has repeatedly condemned the strikes as a violation of its sovereignty and has asserted that such attacks have proved counterproductive in U.S.-led war against terrorism.
On Wednesday, at least twenty-five people died in the latest drone attack in North Waziristan. An unmanned aircraft fired two missiles on a vehicle and a compound.
Despite a Pakistani government offensive, pro-Taliban militants have spread their influence in various regions, killing people and security forces on an almost daily basis
Friday, three police officers died and another was injured in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar when shooters open fire.
Thursday, seven police officers and a child died in Peshawar “when a remote-controlled bomb exploded near a police truck and then a female bomber detonated her explosives-laden vest in the same place.”
Since the plane hijackings on September 11, 2001, thousands of Pakistanis have died in the “U.S.-led war on terror.”
Friday, at least five members of a Pakistani family died and another one of them suffered wounds when a bomb exploded in the northwest of Pakistan.
AFRICA (HORN)
Democracy Now reports, “U.S. Boosts Horn of Africa Famine Aid by $17 Million [and is] the largest donor of aid in the Horn of Africa but still spends more money in Africa on military efforts.”
AFRICA U.S.-allied ETHIOPIA
Strategically important geographic position, world ignores crimes against humanity
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reports, Ethiopia tortures yet “receives $3 billion in development aid every year” — Britain is second to the United States as the largest donor.
Despite evidence that “aid is being used as a tool of political oppression,” Britain, the U.S. and the international community collectively “turns a blind eye to widespread human rights abuses in Ethiopia…”
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism conducting an undercover investigation with BBC Newsnight revealed that “as areas of Ethiopia fall victim to drought and famine, whole communities are being denied basic food, seed and fertilizer for failing to support Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.” There is also “evidence of ongoing ethnic cleansing, mass detentions, widespread use of torture and extra-judicial killings by Ethiopian government forces.”
Portuguese MEP Ana Gomes, a chief election observer for the European Union during the 2005 Ethiopian election, told the investigative journalism bureau that leaders in the west resist speaking up against the Ethiopian prime minister’s repression “by invoking stability interests.
“‘Besides attempting to depict Ethiopia as a success story of development assistance, the EU and U.S. portray their ‘aid darling’ as a partner in the fight against terrorism and a crucial actor for stability in the Horn of Africa.’”
“‘Besides attempting to depict Ethiopia as a success story of development assistance, the EU and U.S. portray their ‘aid darling’ as a partner in the fight against terrorism and a crucial actor for stability in the Horn of Africa.’”
Gomes accuses the international community of “a deliberate agenda of ‘hear no evil-see no evil.’”
AFRICA— LIBYA
NATO jets have carried out more than 18,533 sorties, including at least 7,037 strike sorties since the alliance took command of the Libya mission on March 31 [Reuters report Thursday]. Experts say the main motive behind the Western attack on Libya is the vast oil reserves of this North African country.
“We are the families of the victims who were killed by NATO air strikes on Majar village [that] killed 85 martyrs,” a protester is taped calling on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
“Most of [the dead] were children and women. We are appealing to you to take a firm stand against these crimes committed by NATO every day.”
Thursday, as heavy fighting and killings were mounting in Brega, dozens of Libyans were rallying in Tripoli to protest a NATO air strike that allegedly killed some 85 civilians earlier in the week. Though NATO maintained it had struck a legitimate military target, the government of Libya “claims 33 children were among the dead.”
Thousands of people have died in fighting in Libya. The Libyan government says more than one thousand civilians have lost their lives in airstrikes by NATO warplanes. At least 85 civilians, they say, died Monday in a NATO air raid on the village of Majer, east of the capital Tripoli. NATO denied the claims.
Thursday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed his concern over the rising civilian casualties in Libya. He said there would be no military solution for resolving the conflict in the North African nation.
Nevertheless, the U.S. and NATO continue to unleash a punishing offensive on the country. Since March, aerial attacks have killed thousands including many civilians.
AFRICA SOMALIA
United Nations has warned of serious cholera outbreaks in various regions of famine-stricken Somalia.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says this year there have been reported some 4,272 cases of acute watery diarrhea among people in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.
More than 180 people have already fallen victim to the disease in Mogadishu and surrounding areas and that half of the victims are children under the age of two.
The UN has warned that the deadly illness could quickly spread to the south as many possible carriers flee the famine that has hit some 12.5 million people in the Horn of Africa.
Iran has sent a second humanitarian aid convoy to drought-stricken Somalia. Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi says the country also plans to donate $25 million dollars to help with relief efforts.
More than 29,000 children under the age of five have died of hunger over the past three months in southern Somalia.
An estimated 3.7 million people in Somalia — around a third of the population — are on the brink of starvation.
Millions of people in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda have been affected by the worst drought in the region in 60 years.
AFGHANISTAN
The US-led war in Afghanistan, with civilian and military casualties at record highs, has become the longest war in the US history.
This year, an estimated 1,500 Afghan civilians have died — up by 15-percent compared to the same period last year. Taliban bomb explosions and NATO air and ground attacks in the US-led invasion of Afghanistan have caused these civilian deaths.
Today in Helmand Province at least five civilians died when a powerful bomb exploded. A minivan struck a roadside bomb killing three women and two men who were members of one family,”
A similar incident in the same district left some 18 civilians dead in late July.
YEMEN
U.S. allied
Hundreds of thousands of people have turned out for regular demonstrations in Yemen’s major cities since January, calling for an end to corruption and unemployment and demanding the ouster of Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in office since 1978.
Hundreds of protesters have been killed and many more injured in the [U.S.-allied] regime’s crackdown on Yemen’s popular uprising.
On Friday, protesters held demonstrations in Sana’a, Taizz, Ibb, Ataq, Mar'ib, Al-Mukallah, and other towns to show their support for the popular revolution
IRAQ
Eight years of U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq have left more than a million Iraqis dead.
In recent months, bombings and other forms of violence have become near daily occurrences in Iraq. Though the U.S. has helped destabilize and destroy this country, the U.S. government insists on wanting to extend its military presence beyond the December 2011 withdrawal deadline.
The US-led military invasion of Iraq began in 2003 under the pretext of locating and destroying weapons of mass destruction (WMD) claimed erroneously to have been held by the repressive regime of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. Iraq’s head of state was assassinated. No WMDs were uncovered.
Thursday, three people died and 30 suffered wounds when bombs exploded in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad and in the western city of Ramadi. Two roadside bombs near a mosque in the northern Iraqi city of Ramadi, some 115 km west of Baghdad, killed at least four and wounded another 24.
Also on Thursday, two bomb blasts near shops in the commercial district of Karrada in central Baghdad wounded four civilians. Two other bombs in the south of the capital left three soldiers and three civilians injured.
PERSIAN GULF BAHRAIN
Home of U.S. Fifth Fleet
Demonstrators called for equality and liberty and demanded an elected government and an end to discrimination against the opposition’s overwhelming majority.
Bahraini protesters have vowed to continue their protests until they achieve their ‘legal demands.’
In February after security forces opened fire on anti-government protesters, killing and wounding scores of them, eighteen Bahraini lawmakers from the main Shiite opposition party, al-Wefaq, walked out of the parliament.
On Friday, Bahrain’s main opposition bloc said it plans to boycott parliamentary elections to replace the opposition lawmakers who resigned in protest to Manama’s crackdown on anti-government protesters.
The opposition said they are “no longer convinced of the authority of this parliament.”
PALESTINE
More than 100 countries have officially recognized Palestine as a sovereign state based on the 1967 borders — the boundaries that existed before Israel captured and annexed East al-Quds (Jerusalem), the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.
The United States, Israel and some of their Western allies have opposed the Palestinians’ sovereign-state plan. In its seat on the UN Security Council, Washington officials have threatened to veto any vote for the recognition.
This week, the Palestinian Authority (PA) declared September 20 the date on which it will apply for the United Nations recognition of Palestine as an independent state.
The Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas and Fatah agreed to make the application after signing a unity deal this past May.
USA GLOBAL
Big money
LIBYA-USA global finance CONNECTION
In 2007, Forbes and the Telegraph reported in May, the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) entrusted $1.3 billion to Goldman Sachs. Sachs then lost approximately 98 percent of the Libyan money.
In return for the failed investments, Goldman Sachs offered enraged Libyan officials large stakes in the company and other investment options. Among the offerings, says the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, were “‘preferred shares, unsecured debt, a special purpose vehicle in the Cayman Islands, and investments in credit default swaps.’”
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act forbids US companies from paying bribes to officials of overseas governments. Agents working with sovereign wealth funds can be considered government officials.
The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) conducted an inquiry “into whether banks, hedge funds and private-equity firms paid for access to government-run funds.”
Now, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported this week, “Goldman Sachs’s compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is being examined.”
USA’s own—Brother, can you spare a dime?
Big money USA Global
Democracy Now reported Friday “Top 500 U.S. Firms have increased their holdings 59 percent since 2008. However, “amidst high unemployment and economic stagnation, the nation’s top 500 non-financial companies are sitting on $1.12 trillion in cash and short-term investments.”
Sources and notes
PAKISTAN – U.S./NATO DRONES
“Covert Drone War — US claims of ‘no civilian deaths’ are untrue,” July 18th, 2011 (by Chris Woods, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism), http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/07/18/washingtons-untrue-claims-no-civilian-deaths-in-pakistan-drone-strikes/
“Covert Drone War— Over 160 children reported among drone deaths” (Chris Woods), August 11, 2011, http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/08/11/more-than-160-children-killed-in-us-strikes/
PAKISTAN
Working with lawyers and researchers in Pakistan, human rights legal firm Reprieve has uncovered a number of previously unreported cases of civilian deaths in CIA drone strikes in Pakistan. The Bureau has been able to examine the material.
UK-based Reprieve is best-known for its work challenging US prisoner detention at Guantanamo Bay. Now it is confronting US covert drone strikes. http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/07/18/the-cia-drone-strike-that-rewrote-the-rules/
“Covert Drone War, July 27, 2011,
http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/07/27/covert-drone-war/
“Covert Drone War —The CIA drone strike that rewrote the rules” (Chris Woods), July 18, 2011,
http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/07/18/the-cia-drone-strike-that-rewrote-the-rules/
JUNE
Ob212 – June 3 2011
♦ 9 total killed
♦ 3 injured
Ilyas Kashmiri, Al Qaeda affiliate and senior commander, was reported ‘killed’ as he slept in an orchard along with Mohammad Usman, Ibrahim, Farooq, Amir Hamza and Imran. Despite Pakistan insisting that Kashmiri had died, suspicions were almost immediately raised. Only days earlier US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had reportedly presented Pakistan with a ‘death list’ of senior militants the US wanted killed. Some saw the timing of his reported death as suspicious. Six weeks later reports began emerging that Kashmiri had survived, though his status is still unclear. It was later claimed that the US State Department was ‘angry‘ that this strike, along with Ob213 and Ob214, had taken place. (AP)
Location: Ghwa Khwa, South Waziristan
References: myfoxmemphis.com, Dawn, AFP, Dawn, ht.ly.com, Long War Journal, ndtv.com, Reuters, Express Tribune, Indian Express, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, BBC, Express Tribune, Dawn, CNN, AFP, SATP
Ob213 – June 6 2011
♦ 8-9 total killed
♦ 2 injured
The reported home of Zari Khan Shamsikhel was destroyed in the first of three linked strikes. Up to nine people – reported by some as ‘Punjabi Taliban’ or as ‘foreigners’ – were killed.
Location: Shalam Raghzai, South Waziristan
References: The Nation, BBC News, CNN, Reuters, Express Tribune, Geo TV, Al Jazeera English, New York Times, Time, Dawn, Xinhua, Xinhua, Xinhua, SATP
Ob214 – June 6 2011
♦ 8-10 total killed
♦ 7 civilians reported killed in this strike or Ob213
♦ 3 injured
Up to ten people were killed in a strike on a religious school. Seven civilians were reportedly among the dead in this or Ob 213 (CNN).
Location: Wacha Dana, South Waziristan
References: The Nation, Express Tribune, BBC News, CNN, Reuters, Express Tribune, Geo TV, Al Jazeera English, New York Times, Time, Dawn, Xinhua, Reuters
Ob215 – June 6 2011
♦ 3-5 total killed
In the third linked strike of the day a vehicle was destroyed, killing up to five alleged militants.
Location: Darnashtra, South Waziristan
References: The Nation, Express Tribune, BBC News, CNN, Reuters, Express Tribune, Geo TV, Al Jazeera English, New York Times, Time, Dawn, Xinhua, Express Tribune
Ob216 – June 8 2011
♦ 18-23 total killed
♦ 6 injured
An attack on a housing compound by four or five drones killed as many as 23 ‘suspected militants’, with a further six people injured. Some sources linked the dead to Hafiz Gul Bahadur’s group. Villagers took part in the rescue work.
Location: Zoynari, South Waziristan
References: Dawn, Reuters, Reuters, The News, New York Times, Express Tribune, Reuters, AFP, BBC, Xinhua, SATP
Ob217 – June 8 2011
♦ 4 total killed
Four people – possibly militants – were reported killed in an attack on a truck.
Location: Shawal, South Waziristan
References: Dawn, New York Times, Reuters, BBC News, Xinhua
Ob218 – June 15 2011
♦ 9-10 total killed
♦ 2 injured
An attack on a house (reported as owned by tribesman Zar Wali Khan Wazir) and allegedly linked to militant leader Maulvi Nazir killed up to ten people. Two people were injured.
Location: Wana, South Waziristan
References: Dawn, PakTribune, CNN, Express Tribune, Boston.com, SATP
Ob219 – June 15 2011
♦ 0 total killed
♦ 0 civilians reported killed
♦ 0 injured
No injuries were reported as four car occupants (possibly ‘Punjabi militants’) escaped into an orchard before their vehicle was destroyed.
Location: Karez, South Waziristan
References: PakTribune, Boston.com, Express Tribune, AFP, BBC News
Ob220 – June 15 2011
♦ 5-6 total killed
♦ 5-6 civilians reported killed
A car was destroyed and up to six people were reported killed on the Mir Ali-Miranshah road. The Bureau’s researchers in Waziristan reported:
Civilians belonging to the Zangbar family of the Toorikhel Wazir tribe were killed. Those killed included Shahzada, who was a student and was the grandson of a tribal elder Malik Shahzada, the 50-year-old head of the Toorikhel Wazir tribe. Malik Shahzada has shifted to Peshawar with his family due to fear of the local Taliban. How could he or his slain grandson be Taliban when the family had to leave their ancestral village and shift to Peshawar to avoid harm at the hand of the Taliban?
Also killed were Akram Shah, a government employee driving the car; Atiq ur Rehman, nicknamed Tariq, who was a local pharmacist; Irshad Khan, who worked for Mr Rehman; and Amar Khan, a local student at Miranshah college. The civilian deaths led to an outpouring of local anger, with residents using the coffins of the dead to block roads in protest. Some reports indicated that one further unidentified person may have been killed in the strike (Dawn).
Location: Mir Ali, Miram Shah, North Waziristan
References: PakTribune, Dawn, The News, CNN, Boston.com, AFP, BBC News, Dawn, SATP
Ob221 – June 20 2011
♦ 7 total killed
♦ 2 civilians reported killed
♦ 0-3 injured
Seven people were reported killed in the first of a triple strike in Kurram Agency. Five initially died when a car was destroyed. As villagers attempted aid, drones killed a further two people, according to local official Noor Alam.
Location: Khardand, Kurram Agency
References: Voice of America, Boston.com, The Nation, Long War Journal
Ob222 – June 20 2011
♦ 3-5 total killed
In the second of three strikes in Kurram, a house was struck and up to five alleged militants, said to be Afghanis, were killed.
Location: Zarakai, Kurram Agency
References: Boston.com, The Nation
Ob223 – June 20 2011
♦ 5 total killed
In the final attack of the day in Kurram, a ‘suspect compound’ was destroyed killing five alleged militants.
Location: Qama Mela, Kurram Agency
References: Voice of America, Boston.com, The Nation, Voice of America, Daily Times, Long War Journal, AFP, CNN, BBC News, Reuters, Yahoo, Al Jazeera English, Xinhua
Ob224 – June 27 2011
♦ 6-12 total killed
Up to a dozen people were reported killed in an attack on one or two trucks. Three ‘foreigners’ and five local Taliban fighters were reported among the dead.
Location: Shawal, North Waziristan
References: Al Jazeera English, PakObserver, The News, Express Tribune, BBC News, Xinhua, Xinhua
Ob225 – June 27 2011
♦ 14-21 total killed
♦ At least 2 injured
An alleged militant training camp or house was ‘completely destroyed’ and up to 21 suspected militants were killed, with at least two people injured. The site was linked by one source to militant commander Adam Khan.
Location: Shakai, South Waziristan
References: Dawn, AFP, PakObserver, The News, Dawn, Al Jazeera English, Express Tribune, BBC News, Xinhua, Xinhua
JULY
Ob226 – July 5 2011
♦ 6 total killed
♦ 5 injured
An attack on a guesthouse killed six alleged militants and injured five. Suspected Australian militant and convert Saif Ullah was later named among the dead, along with Zahirullah. The Bureau’s researchers in Waziristan reported: ‘The missile fired by the drone hit a hujra, or male guesthouse. Saifullah, the Australian national, happened to be a guest of Zahirullah, who owned a general store in Mir Ali bazaar, and both were killed.’ Our researchers report that there is debate over Zahirullah’s militant links:
There was no doubt about Saifullah’s background. He was a white Australian convert, who had grown a beard and used to rotate between North Waziristan and Khost. Sources said he used to fight against the US-led forces in Khost province in Afghanistan and then return to North Waziristan for rest. Saifullah, in his late 30s, had come to North Waziristan four years ago and had lived in Miramshah and other places. In North Waziristan, he was aligned with the Pakistani Taliban militant group headed by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who signed a peace agreement with the Pakistan government twice in recent years. He had reportedly come from Khost two days before he was killed.
The Australian government continues to deny that one of its citizens was killed.
Location: Mir Ali, North Waziristan
References: AFP, Outlook India, People Daily, PakObserver, Mangalorean, Long War Journal, Xinhua, CNN, Times of India
Ob227 – July 11 2011
♦ 10 total killed
♦ 0-5 civilians possibly killed
♦ At least 2 injured
An evening attack on a van killed ten people. Only five alleged militants were reportedly in the van, with civilian deaths possible.
Location: Gurwak, North Waziristan
References: The News, The News, AFP, Dawn, Washington Times, Dawn, Pakwatan, STLToday, MSNBC, Geo News, Reuters, BBC News
Ob228 – July 12 2011
♦ Up to 18 total killed
A second strike in Gurwak (sometimes confused with Ob227) killed up to 18 alleged militants in a compound.
Location: Gurwak, North Waziristan
References: None
Ob229 – July 12 2011
♦ 5-13 total killed
♦ 3-5 injured
An attack on a house and/ or car killed up to thirteen alleged militants, including ‘foreigners’, and injured five. Three students ‘with militant links’ were killed in either this or Ob230, named as Hafiz Bilal, Waheed Ullah and Fayaz.
Location: Barmal, South Waziristan
References: Digital Journal, Pakistan Today, The News, Pakwatan, STLToday, Geo News Update, BBC News, The News, AFP, Dawn, Pakwatan, Lahore Times, Geo News, Reuters, BBC
Ob230 – July 12 2011
♦ 13-15 total killed
Linked attacks on a house and car killed up to fifteen alleged militants. Reuters reported a Pakistani intelligence official as saying: ‘The missiles were fired as militants sitting in a vehicle were entering into a house used by them as a hideout. The house is on fire.’ Three students ‘with militant links’ were killed in either this or Ob229, named as Hafiz Bilal, Waheed Ullah and Fayaz.
Location: Dre Nishtar, Shawal valley, North Waziristan
References: The News, Pakistan Times, Press TV, The Nation, Asian Tribune
Ob231 – July 12 2011
♦ 4-9 total killed
♦ 1 civilians reported killed
An attack on a car killed up to eight alleged militants. The News reported tribal sources as saying that ‘a local villager driving his personal car came under drone attack’. The Bureau’s own researchers in Waziristan told us:
This drone strike was also directed at the New Adda (new public stand) in Dattakhel town. The New Adda has been attacked at least thrice. Eight suspected militants, all Pakistanis from local tribes, were killed in the attack. A civilian named Abdul Jalil, hailing from the Khaddar Khel clan was also killed. He had come home from Dubai, UAE where he was a migrant worker, on leave.
Location: Datta Khel, North Waziristan
References: The News, Pakistan Times, Press TV, The Nation, Asian Tribune
Ob232 – July 20 2011
♦ 4 total killed
♦ At least 2 injured
An attack on a house killed four people – described by one source as ‘suspected militants’. Several others were wounded, and were reported at the time as being in a ‘critical condition.’
Location: Mir Ali, North Waziristan
References: Express Tribune, Press TV, MSN
AUGUST
Ob233 – August 1 2011
♦ 4-5 total killed
♦ 7 injured
A strike on a moving car killed up to five people, allegedly militants, and injured seven. One report described the victims as Punjabi militants allied with Maulvi Nazir (Dawn).
Location: Azam Warsak, South Waziristan
References: AFP, Express Tribune, Dawn, The News, Dawn
Ob234 – August 2 2011
♦ 3-4 total killed
Up to four alleged militants and/ or local tribesmen were killed in a strike on a moving car . The News reported: ‘Tribal sources said the CIA-operated spy planes disappeared for some time in the past few weeks due to unknown reasons, but suddenly reappeared on Tuesday and launched the attack.’ There was some speculation that this might be linked to the recent resignation of the CIA’s station chief in Islamabad (AP).
Location: Qutab Khel, North Waziristan
References: Voice of America, The News, AP, AFP
Ob235 – August 10 2011
♦ 21-25 total killed
♦ 3-8 injured
A pre-dawn strike on an alleged housing compound of the Haqqani Network killed up to 23 people. A vehicle was also destroyed in the attack. Associated Press reported:’The vehicle was hit minutes after it reached the house. It looks like the drone was chasing it. One missile hit the vehicle and another hit the house. Four militants sitting in the vehicle were also killed.’ Al Jazeera reported that ‘Uzbeks and Arabs’ may be among the dead.
Location: Miramshah, North Waziristan
References: Dawn, AP, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Deccan Herald
Covert Drone War - the Data
Obama 2011 Strikes
August 10th, 2011 | by Drones team | Published in All Stories, Covert Drone War - the Data, Drones data carousel
http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/08/10/obama-2011-strikes/
“Covert Drone War —Attacking the messenger: how the CIA tried to undermine drone study” (Chris Woods), August 12, 2011, http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/08/12/attacking-the-messenger-how-the-cia-tried-to-undermine-drone-study/
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism works in collaboration with other news groups to get its investigations published and distributed. It has worked with BBC File On Four, BBC Panorama, BBC Newsnight, Channel4 Dispatches, Channel4 News, The Financial Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Times, Le Monde and numerous others.
First of its kind in the UK, established in April 2010, the London-based (City University) Bureau of Investigative Journalism is a not-for-profit organization “that bolsters original journalism by producing high-quality investigations for press and broadcast media.”
In the year since it launched, with a £2 million grant from The David & Elaine Potter Foundation, the Bureau has secured more than a dozen front-page stories and produced a number of award-winning web, radio and TV documentaries.
To date highlights:
- Collaboration with WikiLeaks in its Iraq War Logs expose (won an Amnesty Award, gained international headlines)
- Nine- month investigation into EU structural funds (subject of lengthy reports in the Financial Times, the BBC’s File on Four and Al Jazeera’s People and Power; won a Thomson Reuters Reporting Europe Award)
- Largest ever analysis of public pay in the UK (turned into a Panorama and one of the most visited BBC web pages of 2010)
PAKISTAN, Press TV reports
“U.S. national abducted in Pakistan,” August 13, 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/193698.html
“‘Drones killed 2,200 in Pakistan’” http://www.presstv.ir/detail/193477.html
Reporting the Bureau if Investigative Journalism’s report: ‘At least 2,200 people have been killed and more than 1,100 others injured by the unauthorized U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004’ — New study conducted by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism: 168 children have lost their lives in more than 291 attacks since they began under George W. Bush… Aerial raids have escalated since President Barack Obama took office in 2009. At least 236 attacks have taken place during his term.
“Gunmen kill three Pakistani policemen,” August 12, 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/193586.html
“Pro-Taliban militants have spread their influence in various regions, killing people and security forces on an almost daily basis despite an offensive by the Pakistani government,” August 12, 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/193531.html
Also August 10
“NATO oil tanker torched in Pakistan — Taliban-linked militants in Pakistan have blown up a NATO oil truck carrying fuel for US-led foreign troops in Afghanistan, local officials say,”
“US drone kills seven in NW Pakistan — A non-UN-sanctioned US drone attack has killed at least seven people and wounded three others in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt,”
http://www.presstv.ir/section/351020401.html
PAKISTAN Democracy Now Headlines Friday
Report: 773 Pakistani Civilians Killed in U.S. Drone Strikes
“A new report (from a team of British and Pakistani journalists) estimates U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan have killed as many as 775 civilians, including 168 children.
“Overall, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism reports some 2,292 people have died in the drone attacks since 2004. As many as 69 children were killed in the bombing of an Islamic school in 2006.
“The report also challenges a recent claim by President Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, that no civilians have been killed in the drone attacks for nearly a year. According to researchers, at least 45 civilians were killed in 10 U.S. attacks during the last year.”
Who is John Brennan?
“His name may not register widely outside Washington, but John Brennan is a pivotal figure in the US global war on terror. Officially he is Deputy Homeland Security Adviser, and Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counter-terrorism. Unofficially, he is the administration’s lead policy figure on the fight against al Qaeda and other terrorist threats.
“Brennan served at the CIA for over 25 years, where he rose to be deputy executive director. A trusted adviser to Presidents Clinton and Bush, Brennan was touted as Obama’s first choice for CIA chief. However, his partial support for the ‘enhanced interrogation’ techniques sanctioned by the Bush administration reportedly led him to withdraw from the selection process.
“The President’s deep trust in Brennan is apparent. On July 10 the adviser was dispatched to the Middle East to personally order the ailing and unpopular President Saleh of Yemen to step down. Brennan was speaking with the direct authority of the US president.
“Recently Brennan unveiled the Washington’s global counter-terrorism strategy for the coming decade. This will rely heavily on drone strikes and Special Forces raids in countries such as Pakistan and Yemen, he said in a speech at Johns Hopkins University on June 29.
“Covert Drone War — U.S. claims of ‘no civilian deaths’ are untrue,” July 18th, 2011 (by Chris Woods), http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/07/18/washingtons-untrue-claims-no-civilian-deaths-in-pakistan-drone-strikes/
AFRICA
“Revealed: Aid to Ethiopia increases despite serious human rights abuses” (Angus Stickler and Caelainn Barr), August 6, 2011, http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/08/06/revealed-britain-and-eu-increase-aid-to-ethiopia-despite-serious-human-rights-abuses/
“More Libyan fighters die in Brega battle,” August 13, 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/193733.html
“UN chief alarmed at Libya civilian toll,” August 12, 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/193566.html
“Libyans protest at deadly NATO strikes,” August 11, 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/193520.html
“‘Cholera epidemic spreading in Somalia,’” August 12, 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/section/351020501.html
Also:
“36 children starve to death in Somalia,” August 9, 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/193160.html
“At least 36 more children in Somalia’s southern town of Dhobley have died because of an unrelenting famine caused by country’s worst drought in decades — The children died in less than 20 hours in Dhobley’s refugee camps, set up near the Kenyan borders, a press TV correspondent reported on Tuesday. Reports coming out of Somalia say several children were buried while hundreds of others struggling with hunger and different diseases are on the verge of death.
Meanwhile, more than 10,000 women and children have been facing lack of water since the past two weeks in the city of Afmadow, in Somalia’s drought-stricken south.
The number of children who have died in Dhobley and Afmadow hits 51 and thousands of others are facing lack of water, food and shelters.
More than 29,000 children under the age of five have died of hunger over the past three months in southern Somalia.
An estimated 3.7 million people in Somalia — around a third of the population — are on the brink of starvation.
Meanwhile, millions of people in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda have been affected by the worst drought in the region in 60 years.
AFGHANISTAN
Roadside bomb kills five Afghan civilians, August 13, 2011,
http://www.presstv.ir/section/351020403.html
YEMEN
Millions of Yemenis take to the streets, August 13, 2011,
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/193680.html
IRAQ
“Iraq blasts kill 7, injure over 60,” August 12, 2011,
http://www.presstv.ir/section/351020201.html
Referenced study of Iraqi deaths conducted by the prestigious British polling group, Opinion Research Business (ORB).
BAHRAIN
Bahrain opposition to boycott elections, August 12, 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/193668.html
Also:
Friday August 12
“Saudi-backed forces attack Bahrainis — Saudi-backed forces have stepped up their attacks on anti-regime demonstrators that have once again taken to the streets of Bahrain, calling for the downfall of the Al Khalifa regime,”
Thursday August 11
“‘Bahrain allies can’t kill revolution’— A Bahraini opposition leader says the revolution in Bahrain is “not going to stop,” despite the all-out Saudi and American support for the suppressive regime in Manama”
PALESTINE
“PA sets date for UN statehood bid,” July 13, 2011,
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/193742.html
Also
OC CUPIED TERRITORIES
Democracy Now reported Friday, “Israel Approves 1,600 New Settlement Homes in Occupied East Jerusalem — The Israeli government has formalized approval for the construction of 1,600 new settlement homes in occupied East Jerusalem.…
“‘Many people in the [Israeli] government can take everything and manipulate it so it will fit their own small, narrow interest and the way of thinking’” a protester was quoted in the Democracy Now headlines.
AMERICAS USA GLOBAL FINANCE
Big money
“An investigation is underway into Goldman Sachs’ dealings with Libya’s sovereign fund, the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA),” August 10,
http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/08/10/bureau-recommends-goldman-sachs-probed-for-involvement-with-libyan-government/
Democracy Now Headlines, Top 500, [no trickle down] Friday August 12, 2011, http://www.democracynow.org/2011/8/12/headlines
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