Daily brief: U.S. drone strike reportedly kills 26 in NW Pakistan

No smiling photo op 

As many as 26 people, including five women and children, were reportedly killed earlier today in a suspected U.S. drone strike targeting a compound used by local militant commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur in the Spinwam area of North Waziristan (Reuters, AP, WSJ, CNN, BBC, Geo). Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs, reportedly told Pakistani Army head Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani during his visit to Pakistan this week that the drone strikes would continue until the Pakistani military targets the Haqqani network in North Waziristan (ET). Pamela Constable points out that "this week, there was no smiling photo op" between Adm. Mullen and Gen. Kayani, indicating the current tense relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan (Post).  

In a step toward addressing Pakistan’s long-standing request for drone technology, the U.S. military said it will provide Pakistan with 85 Raven mini-drones, used for surveillance (Reuters). Pakistan is expected to receive some $3 billion in U.S. military aid in the next fiscal year. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Pakistan’s foreign secretary, Salman Bashir, who is currently in D.C., and said the U.S. and Pakistan should "work and succeed together" (ET).

The Pakistani Army claimed that the Suran area of Mohmand agency in northwest Pakistan, which has seen military operations lately, has been cleared of militants, and Gen. Kayani visited troops in the agency today to launch the second phase of operations there (Dawn, ET). In Lower Dir, hundreds of militants attacked a security checkpoint along the Afghan border, killing at least 14 Pakistani security personnel today (ET). Pakistan gunships killed six militants in Lower Kurram yesterday (ET). And in Karachi, up to 19 people were killed in an explosion in an illegal gambling den last night, and police are investigating whether the attack was the result of "some internal rivalry" or terrorism (The News, AJE, AFP, Dawn, Reuters, ET, BBC, DT).   

A turning point 

At a press conference yesterday at the Pentagon, defense secretary Robert Gates told reporters, "It’s possible that, by the end of this year, we will have turned a corner" in Afghanistan, calling 2011 a "critical year" (Reuters, AFP). A roadside bomb in Spin Boldak in Kandahar killed five Afghan policemen earlier this morning, and militants attacked a convoy of NATO tankers in the northern province of Baghlan, destroying several vehicles (AP, Pajhwok). A nephew of Hezb-i-Islami leader, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, was reportedly killed by a NATO airstrike in Maidan Wardak (Pajhwok).  

The Journal reports on the U.S.’s escalation of airdropping supplies to troops in isolated areas of Afghanistan, which has doubled annually since 2006, to "avoid exposing ground convoys to ambushes and roadside bombs" (WSJ). Some 60 million pounds of supplies were dropped last year.  

And we need a vacation tonight

A group of Marines stationed in Afghanistan has produced a version of pop star Britney Spears’ single "Hold it against me," featuring dance choreography and lip syncing (LAT). The group has also offered covers of Miley Cyrus and Sean Kingston.

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