Targeted killings by drone

On the night of 5 August 2009, a US Predator 'drone' hovering high over Zanghara, a remote village in Pakistan's South Waziristan, sighted its prey, the Pakistani warlord Baitullah Mehsud, the head of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). According to Pakistan's intelligence agencies, Baitullah was the man behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto (an allegation that he had denied) as well as scores of deadly attacks on Pakistan's security forces. The drone's video footage showed Baitullah, who suffered from several ailments, on the roof of a house, lying on his back receiving an intravenous transfusion; his wife and father-in-law were also clearly visible, and all appeared to be completely oblivious to the drone's presence.

Within moments of making a positive identification, the drone's controllers, sitting somewhere in the United States, pressed a button, unleashing the drone's deadly cargo: air-to-ground missiles that hit the target with pinpoint accuracy. Baitullah Mehsud was instantly incinerated along with his wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, seven bodyguards and an aide. In all, the attack resulted in 11 deaths other than that of the target – what the public is then asked to identity as collateral damage. At least three of those killed were non-combatants by any definition. Usually in such situations, the toll is even higher – a study by the Brookings Institute in 2009 had suggested that that roughly ten civilian deaths result from each 'target' killed in a drone attack. Further, this was not the first attack on Baitullah Mehsud – there had been some 15 prior attempts to eliminate him, resulting in an unknown number of casualties.