The CIA is equipping Pakistani tribesmen with secret electronic transmitters to help target and kill al-Qaeda leaders in the northwestern tribal belt, in a tactic that could aid Pakistan’s army as it takes the battle against extremism to the Taliban heartland.
As the army mops up Taliban resistance in the Swat valley, where a defense official predicted fighting would be over within days, the focus is shifting to Waziristan and the Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud.
But a deadly war of wits is already under way in the region, where tribesmen say the US is using advanced technology coupled with old-fashioned cash to target the enemy.
Over the last 18 months, the US has launched more than 50 drone attacks, mostly in south and north Waziristan. US officials claim nine of the top 20 al-Qaeda figures have been killed.
That success is reportedly in part thanks to the mysterious electronic devices, dubbed “chips” or pathrai (the Pashto word for a metal device), which have become a source of fear, intrigue and fascination.
“Everyone is talking about it,” said Taj Muhammad Wazir, a student from south Waziristan. “People are scared that if a pathrai comes into your house, a drone will attack it.”
Residents and Taliban propaganda say the CIA pays tribesmen to plant the electronic devices near farmhouses sheltering al-Qaeda and Taliban commanders. Hours or days later, a drone, guided by the signal from the chip, destroys the building with a salvo of missiles.
“There are body parts everywhere,” said Wazir, who witnessed the aftermath of a strike.
Until now the drone strikes were the only threat to militants in Waziristan, where the Pakistani army had in effect abandoned the fight. But now, emboldened by a successful campaign to drive militants out of Swat, the army is preparing to regain lost ground in the more remote eastern tribal belt.
The Washington Post reported yesterday that US missiles from drones have eliminated about half of 20 “high-value” al-Qaeda and other extremist targets along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. The report did not identify who or what the “high-value” targets were.
Citing unnamed US military and intelligence officials, the newspaper said the strikes and the Swat offensive have unsettled al-Qaeda.
Although al-Qaeda remains “a serious, potent threat,” the paper quotes a US counter terrorism official as saying, “they’ve suffered some serious losses and seem to be feeling a heightened sense of anxiety — and that’s not a bad thing at all.”
A senior military official said that in the current situation, al-Qaeda will have to undertake more open communication on cellphones and computers, even if only to gather information on the situation in the region.
“Then they become more visible,” the official is quoted as saying.
However, the Predator attacks have also killed civilians, stoking anti-US attitudes, the report said. A Pakistani newspaper estimated that 700 people had been killed since 2006, most of them civilians, as a result of drone attacks.
For the tribesmen who plant the microchips and get it wrong, the consequences can be terrible. Last month the Taliban issued a video confession by Habib ur Rehman, 19. He described how he was paid to drop microchips hidden in a cigarette wrapper at the home of a target.
Rehman said his handler promised thousands of dollars if the strike was successful and protection if he was caught. The end of the video showed Rehman being shot dead with three other alleged spies.
Residents say such executions — there have been at least 100 — indicate how much the drone strikes have worried the Taliban.
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