With all eyes on the elections and how Iraq is doing with the Sadrists and Mahdi Army I totally missed the news that the US took out an al-Qaeda group in Pakistan:

At least a dozen militants including foreign fighters were killed Wednesday in a suspected US missile strike on two houses in northwestern Pakistan, a senior security official said.

Two missiles apparently fired by a US drone aircraft demolished a house and a compound used by suspected Al-Qaeda militants in Bajaur tribal region near the border with Afghanistan, the official, who declined to be identified, told AFP.

“We have reports that the missile strike killed at least 12 militants including some foreigners,” the official said.

The houses targetted belonged to Maulvi Taj Mohammad and Maulvi Hassan, the official said, though it was unclear if they had been killed in the strikes.

“Both were Al-Qaeda facilitators,” he said, adding there was an ammunition dump in one of the houses.

I keep hoping one of these days we will nail Bin Laden or Zawahiri in one of these strikes. For some reason locals are not letting government forces near the site:

Angry residents of a Pakistani village on the Afghan border stopped government officials on Thursday from approaching the ruins of a house struck by missiles suspected to have been fired by a U.S. drone.

Eighteen people including foreign militants were killed when two missiles hit a house in the village of Damadola in the Bajaur tribal region, where Islamist militants have been known to operate, on Wednesday evening, a security official said.

…

A senior government official said the strike had apparently targeted a mid-level, Arab al Qaeda member, who had been killed.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, asked about an attack apparently carried out by the United States, said: “I strongly condemn this. It’s absolutely wrong. It’s unfair. They should not have done this action.”

Well, this is the Obama strategy after all, invade our democrat allies and talk to our enemies. But I seriously doubt the US would risk total diplomatic melt down with Pakistan over a mid-level AQ leader. I would bet someone of import is having their meeting with Allah about now. Whoever those ‘foreign militants’ must have been high valued targets.

Update: Boy, this attack stirred up the hornet’s nest all right. The attack happened in Bajur Agency, one of the agencies of the FATA region of Pakistan and sometimes identified as the hideout for AQ’s top leaders. Bajur Agency is at the northern most tip of FATA and borders the NWFP region, which also has seen militant problems. (Click the map below to get a larger image)

One of the more extreme Taliban leaders in the area has vowed to attack America in response:

After attending a funeral for seven men said to have been killed, Faqir Mohammed, a cleric and deputy leader of Pakistan’s Taliban movement, vowed revenge.

“This is jihad for us, and we fully know the price we have to pay for fighting aggressors,” said Mohammed, who is accused of links to al-Zawahri and other al-Qaida operatives.

“America martyred our people, and the blood of our brothers will not go to waste,” he said. “God willing, we will avenge it by targeting America”.

The supposed peace deal between Pakistan and the militants is in tatters, not because of this attack, but because the Taliban only want peace for Pakistan – they still vow to wage Jihad across their borders into Afghanistan.

Maulvi Umar, a Taliban spokesman, has said the movement will continue fighting in Afghanistan despite any peace deal it might reach in Pakistan. Both countries have suffered from a series of militant attacks.

And now the promise to take their fight global. Well, that pretty much ends that nonsense, not that it was not worth a try to see if peace could be achieved. But there will be no sanctuary to launch attacks on others. We tried that path and it led to 9-11.