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"Dozens Dead" in US Drone Strike

by:   |  BBC News

Qari Zainuddin.
Qari Zainuddin, shown here with his bodyguards, was assassinated on Tuesday. (Photo: Ishtiaq Mahsud / AP)



    At least 45 people have died in a missile strike by a US drone aircraft in Pakistan, officials there have said.

    The people killed in South Waziristan region had been attending a funeral for others killed in a US drone strike earlier on Tuesday.

    Intelligence officials said at least 45 people had been killed and dozens more injured in the later strike, when two missiles were fired.

    But a local official told BBC News the death toll was more than 50.

    The region is a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.

    Also on Tuesday, tribal leader Qari Zainuddin, who often criticised Mehsud, was shot dead by a gunman in north-western Pakistan.

    Earlier this month, Zainuddin criticised Mehsud after an attack on a mosque, which killed 33 people.

    The Pakistani army is preparing to launch an offensive against Taliban fighters under Mehsud's command, who are blamed for a number of deadly attacks.

    But Zainuddin's killing is being seen as a setback for the government in its efforts to isolate Mehsud ahead of the security forces' next phase of their anti-Taliban offensive in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, says the BBC's Mike Wooldridge in Islamabad.

  

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Obama's score in Pakistan

Obama's score in Pakistan seems to be well on the way to surpass George's score in Iraq! And talking about Iraq, are US Forces really departing the cities or , as mentioned earlier, has Iraq redrawn the Cities' boundary lines so the US will not have to move to be OUT of Town! More Lies????????????

And Obama talks about his

And Obama talks about his outrage at the injustice of the Iranian leader over human rights abuses in Iran! This is sheer hypocrisy! the US is murdering untold thousands of innocent people in an illegal war and they are committing the atrocities of torture and indefinite detention without Habeus Corpus! Only a complete fool would respect the voices coming from the US leadership!!

The American Empire carries

The American Empire carries on with its sacred mission of defeating the chimerical terrorists. For each and every funeral that takes place, it would seem that our military juggernaut will need yet more death and more funerals. The insanity and futility of the Empire's mission does not appear to trouble the leaders, both military and political. Meanwhile, back in the Heartland, the citizens face a grim battle of their own for economic survival as the failing economy strikes down more and more jobs. The stock market rebounds on no fundamental news, but on hubris and false hope that the worst is over. Our currency, severely debased by trillion dollar bailouts for the banking speculators and massive funds handed out to the elite, is called into question by economies around the globe. Yet on they march, across the barren plains into the inhospitable mountains of Pakistan, the finest most fully equipped fighting force the world has ever known. Their enemies, should they be able identify them, are ragged and poorly armed. They have on their side only history, but it is said that those who do not understand history are condemned to repeat it.

Convince Obama to stop the

Convince Obama to stop the drones attacks on Pakistan. How? It's up to us.

Doesn't Obama mourn every

Doesn't Obama mourn every innocent victim?

Let's hope the

Let's hope the Commander-in-Chief (I almost wrote Dear Leader) of US forces is not in charge of the US juggernaut of war, let's hope it's Robert Gates - that way we can continue loving Barack Obama just a little while longer, though perhaps not as fervently as we loved him only six months ago. Pete Edler, Stockholm

If there were any decency in

If there were any decency in this country, this incident would mark the end of our involvement in Afpaklia.

I see. It's perfectly okay

I see. It's perfectly okay to slaughter civilians in Pakistan, just like it was in Iraq - all 1.6 million of them. I now understand this unwavering tenet of the U.S. government and see it in still another shameless context in Pakistan. Here is the real point: the U.S. government can do no wrong, even when it violates Geneva Conventions and Nuremberg guidelines in bombing harmless, weaponless civilians on civilian turf.

It seems the United States

It seems the United States truly learned nothing in Viet Nam. Why do we keep repeating the same mistakes over and over? Must be some really good money in making war........

Weddings and funerals!

Weddings and funerals! Missiles and robots! So...this does what for America's reputation in the Middle East???

All I can say is that I

All I can say is that I can't take the thought of the gut-wrenching anguish brought about by a bunch of well insulated video gamers

Much as I admire President

Much as I admire President Obama (so far!) I see it as ironic that on the day he is reported as condemning the killing of innocents in Iran, there are reports of dozens more (again!) killed by American UAVs in Pakistan. I feel a touch of deja vu coming on. I thought it was only in the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld days that the killing of innocents was OK in one place but wrong in another. Please, Please - no more double standards!!

President Obama...killing

President Obama...killing innocent people with a smile since January 2008. And the train kept a rollin'.

killing the attendants of

killing the attendants of the funeral ,seems to be General Mc Christal`s way of reducing civilian casualties,since its expected the mourners will cease to attend funerals. a three band carom!