High Value Target Killed in Pakistan
May 16, 2008 by national
Filed under World Report
Senior U.S. and Pakistani officials say that Wednesday’s Predator attack on a village in northwest Pakistan was not insignificant, that a “high-value target … an Arab” was among those killed. U.S. officials believe the unnamed target was planning attacks outside Pakistan, “so we nailed him,” in the words of one.
By all accounts, on Wednesday evening, two male guesthouses in the village of Damodola were struck by Hellfire missiles fired from Predator drones. The drones are normally operated by the CIA. Inside the guesthouses were local fighters along with several “foreigners,” including the Arab fighter, according to the U.S. officials and locals.
Although the number of missiles fired remains uncertain, recent attacks have involved multiple volleys from multiple Predators. Predators now carry up to six Hellfires.
One senior U.S. official said there were “no household names — no Bin Laden, no Zawahiri, no Sayed Sheikh (Al-Qaida’s No. 3) targeted,” but a second official said in spite of that, the main target was “high value.” Moreover, said the second official, “This guy was planning attacks, so we nailed him.” A second official said the presence of a high-ranking al-Qaida official, an Arab, in an area dominated by local jihadi organization presupposed a planning session.
