U.S. codifying counterterrorism, targeted killing policies – report

Plans for the future

The Washington Post’s Greg Miller on Tuesday published a must-read: the first of a three-part series examining the development of U.S. counterterrorism policies and targeted killings, and the codification of policies that essentially guarantee the continuation of the U.S. war against al-Qaeda for at least a decade to come (Post). The first installment in the series covers the creation of a list of terrorists to be targeted, and how they may be killed or captured depending on where in the world they are spotted.

At least five people were killed in a U.S. drone strike on a suspected militant compound in Tappi, North Waziristan on Wednesday (Dawn, ET, The News). Lawyers for a Pakistani man whose father was killed in a drone attack told Britain’s High Court on Tuesday that the British government’s support for the U.S. drone campaign could amount to assisting murder or even war crimes, as a case against the UK government opened in London (Guardian). The attorneys argued that by passing intelligence to the CIA knowing that it might be used to facilitate a drone strike, Britain’s signals intelligence agency GCHQ could be involved in a criminal offence.

Michael Georgy for Reuters published a must-read report on Wednesday featuring interviews with members of Pakistan’s sectarian militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, as well as Pakistani counterterrorism experts who say the group’s targeting of Shi’a Muslims has been increasing recently (Reuters). And Geo News reports that militants blew up two boys’ primary schools in Mohmand Agency in Pakistan’s tribal area on Wednesday (Geo).

Caught in the crossfire

A prolonged firefight between international troops and Taliban militants in the eastern province of Logar on Sunday killed four Afghan children, who were grazing their sheep in a nearby field, local and NATO officials said on Tuesday (NYT, Reuters). ISAF commander Gen. John Allen offered his "sincerest condolences to the families of the civilians that were killed," and promised to offer condolence payments.

Local officials in the western Afghan province of Herat said on Tuesday that at least 10 Afghan security personnel were killed in a firefight with Taliban militants that broke out late Monday evening (BBC, AJE, AP). The Afghan troops were searching for Taliban militants who had set up roadblocks earlier in order to stop and seize passenger vehicles, when they came under fire. Kunduz Province’s police spokesman Sayed Sarwar Husseini said Tuesday that a top Taliban commander and financier, Mullah Abdul Rahman, was captured in a joint coalition-Afghan operation last Friday (Reuters).

Odd one out

A BBC World Service opinion poll has found an overwhelming preference for President Barack Obama over his Republican challenger Mitt Romney in all of the overseas countries it polled, except Pakistan (Post). But Pakistani respondents showed little support for either candidate, with only 11 percent saying they’d like to see Obama in the White House again, and 14 percent choosing Romney.

— Jennifer Rowland