The US has resumed drone attacks on the lawless border land of Pakistan. The first strike in almost six months took place today, June 11. The death toll is said to be at least six with a house and vehicle damaged by the missile fired by the drone.

Early reports said that four of the dead were Uzbek militants while the other two belonged to Punjabi Taliban. They came under the missile shower as they were driving in a pick-up truck   through the village, Yar Mohammad. Some reports identified the place as Danday Darpa Khel.

What is  significant about this strike is the fact that it came after peace talks between the Pakistani government and the Pakistan Taliban (TTP) had collapsed and the TTP had laid a seize of the Karachi Airport for close to five hours on June 8.  At least 39 people were killed and ten of them were militants sent out from Waziristan on a suicide mission.   Both the TTP and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, (IMU), which is a TTP guest in North Waziristan, claimed the attack as their joint operation  to take revenge for the drone- killing of TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud last November.

One tentative conclusion can be that the July 11 drone hit resumption has the official Pakistani sanction. It could even be in aid of the on-going military operation against TTP.  The five-month hiatus in drone strikes was at the request of the Pakistani government, to allow peace talks with the TTP to take place.

More drone strikes now appear imminent with the Americans hoping to persuade Pakistan army to target the Haqqani Network. But for the Rawalpindi based GHQ, the Haqqanis are Good Taliban, useful to targeting Indian and Afghan targets across the Durand Line.

So much so, the American wish will remain unfulfilled as always.

— By Ram Singh Kalchuri